Vilnius, March 11, 2026
Photo: lrt.lt
Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said Monday that Lithuania should act to limit Russian intelligence activity within the country’s Orthodox Church structures, following the publication of the annual national threat assessment.
“We should prevent the activities of Russian intelligence services within this organization,” Budrys said. He compared the Church’s situation to that of a foreign company seeking to invest in a strategic sector, saying that given its links to Russian services it wouldn’t be permitted to hold assets near strategic facilities, reports lrt.lt.
Deividas Matulionis, national security adviser to President Gitanas Nausėda, urged a more targeted approach. “It’s not the Orthodox Church itself but those actors who may be involved in recruitment or other activities who should be the target of our intelligence services,” he said, cautioning against designating the Church as a whole a national security threat.
The threat assessment, produced by the State Security Department and the Second Investigation Department, describes the Moscow Patriarchate’s hierarchical structure as giving it considerable influence over dioceses abroad and says the Archdiocese’s push for partial autonomy is aimed primarily at deflecting public criticism rather than achieving genuine independence.
The Orthodox Archdiocese of Vilnius and Lithuania rejects the characterization, stating that its canonical ties to Moscow have no bearing on the policies of any state and that all decisions within the Archdiocese are made exclusively in Lithuania.
The Archdiocese also notes that it condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine from the first days of the war, a position confirmed at every level of the organization, and that Ukrainian refugees have joined its parishes as full members.
***
The Archdiocese’s full statement reads:
The Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese is not a branch of a foreign religious organization. It is a traditional religious community of Lithuania with deep historical roots—the second-largest in the country—whose membership consists in the overwhelming majority of Lithuanian citizens.
Our community’s connection to the Moscow Patriarchate is canonical, through which our religious community is linked to the universal Orthodox Church. This is a matter belonging to the sphere of thousand-year-old ecclesiastical canons and has no bearing on the current policies of any given state. It is also a matter of Church tradition and religious identity.
The aforementioned petition for the status of a self-governing Church reflects a desire to bring the canonical status of our religious organization into alignment with reality. It is currently under consideration, but even today all decisions within the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese are made exclusively in Lithuania. Through the work of the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese, the teaching of Jesus Christ is proclaimed—not the ideological influence of a neighboring state.
We also draw attention to the fact that the Lithuanian Orthodox Archdiocese, without any external pressure, took an anti-war position from the first days of the war and condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine. This principled position was confirmed at all levels of the organization—the hierarchy, the clergy, the laity, and the General Assembly—and remains unchanged.
Refugees from Ukraine have joined all of our parishes and have become full members of our community. This would not have happened if “Kremlin ideological influence” were being spread in our churches.
At the same time, in all churches of the Lithuanian Orthodox Church, prayers are offered daily at all services for Lithuania, its people, its authorities, and its armed forces.
Follow OrthoChristian on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe and Gab!
