The Lithuanian government on Friday handed over several buildings in Vilnius to the Orthodox Christian community under the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
An administrative building of more than 300 square meters in Antakalnis and auxiliary buildings were handed over to the religious community for ten years, the Culture Ministry told BNS.
The buildings have been empty and unused for some time.
The religious community recently split from the rest of Lithuania’s Orthodox Christians who remain under the Patriarchate of Moscow.
Gintaras Sungaila, a priest of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, told BNS that the community has not had any buildings of its own until now, neither a house of prayer, nor an office or a residence for the exarch.
“The services of this community are usually held in the houses of worship of Christians of other denominations or in rented premises that are not adapted for worship. The documentation, the actual clerical work and the working meetings have to be done in private houses where some of the liturgical supplies are kept,” the priest said. “We are very happy and grateful that we will finally have a physical centre.”
According to Sungaila, the premises will be used as a multi-functional centre for the exarchate and it will house the office, the leader’s residence, a small chapel, a space for meetings and educational and cultural events.
“We have already seen the premises and they are in need of serious renovation, so it will take some time to get the building ready for use,” Songaila said.
The Exarchate of the Patriarchate of Constantinople was officially established in Lithuania in February, allowing it receive almost 80,000 euros in state support later that month.
The community began to form in March 2023 after a visit by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to Lithuania.
Efforts to establish the new Orthodox community started amid a conflict between several clergy members and the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese, which is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Archdiocese accused the priests of canonical offenses and defrocked them.
The Patriarchate of Constantinople subsequently ruled that the priests had been removed for their stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, rather than for violating church rules, and reinstated them.
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