Earlier in the month, plaques dedicated to deceased political and religious prisoners at Vladimir Central Prison under the Communist regime were removed. One notable plaque was in honor of Archbishop Mecislovas Reynis, whose cause for sanctity may be opened in Rome. He was incarcerated in Vladimir Central Prison in 1947 until his death in 1953.
“The memory of Reinis is preserved among Catholics in Russia, in particular, a memorial plaque was installed for him in the Church of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vladimir,” stated Fr. Kirill Gorbunov, vicar general of the archdiocese, according to the state-owned media outlet RIA Novosti.
Fr. Gorbunov added that Archbishop Reynis “deserves to have his memory immortalized at the site of his martyrdom” and that “he was a true Christian and shepherd [who] testified his fidelity to Christ by martyrdom in prison, where he was unjustly accused” with other prisoners of the Communist government.
Born in the Russian empire in 1884, Mecislovas Reynis became a priest in 1907 and a bishop in 1926. He led the department of theoretical and experimental psychology at Kaunas University in Lithuania and was Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Lithuanian government from 1925 to 1926.
The archbishop was first exposed to the religious persecution of the Bolsheviks in Lithuania, who arrested him in 1919 until he was released to Poland two years later by the Treaty of Riga. He returned to Lithuania where he was again arrested in 1947 after the annexation of the country by Stalin’s regime. Condemned to eight years in prison, he had only served six before his death in 1953.
“He shared the fate of many other believers […] in the Vladimir Central [Prison],” stated Fr. Gorbunov. “It is also important for us that the life of Archbishop Reinis is inextricably linked with Russian culture—he graduated from the Theological Academy in St. Petersburg, wrote a doctoral thesis on Vladimir Solovyov, and was involved in popularizing Russian philosophy and psychology in the West.”
The Estonian Foreign Ministry had also criticized the removal of the plaques, one of which paid homage to an Estonian general, Johan Laidoner, who led armed forces during the Estonian War of Independence and against an attempted Communist coup d’état in 1924. The government asked that the plaque be handed over to Estonia.
“Estonia has issued a statement regretting the removal of the Laidoner monument and requesting that the plaque be returned to Estonia, as it is no longer suited for the cemetery in Vladimir,” stated a spokesperson for the ministry. “We also want assistance locating General Laidoner’s remains and returning them to Estonia.”
The Polish ambassador to Moscow, Krzysztof Krajewski, also condemned the removal of several plaques which paid homage to the Polish prisoners of Stalin’s regime. “We observe with sadness the consistent negative policy of the authorities, which removes places commemorating Poles,” stated Krajewski, according to the Polish public service radio station, Polskie Radio 24.
“It happens under the cover of darkness, without any witnesses, no one can explain when or why, and if there are explanations, they are unfortunately untrue,” added the ambassador. “The most saddening and moving thing is that such actions take place in cemeteries.”
The Catholic Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow urgently calls for Prince Vladimir Cemetery in Vladimir, Russia, to restore a commemorative plaque in honor of a Catholic archbishop who was imprisoned until his death by Joseph Stalin’s regime in the Soviet Union.