(LITHUANIA)
TVP World [Warsaw, Poland]
April 23, 2026
By Maria Kamińska
Lithuania’s government has launched legal action against a local authority for failing to remove the name of a disgraced Catholic cardinal from public streets.
Authorities filed a complaint with a regional administrative court against the Vilnius District Council after it missed a deadline to rename two streets honoring the late Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz, sanctioned by the Vatican over allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct.
Government representative Gedmantė Eimontienė confirmed the move, saying the lawsuit would be withdrawn if the municipality complies and changes the street names.
The council, dominated by the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance, had been instructed to act by mid-April but failed to reach a decision.
Gulbinowicz was born and educated in the Vilnius region, which was part of Poland before World War II, and he returned to the area several times during his life.
A planned vote in March was postponed pending the outcome of a public consultation that concluded on April 15. The results of that poll have not yet been released.
The municipality has previously resisted calls to remove Gulbinowicz’s name. Last year, it also rejected a proposal to revoke his honorary citizenship, arguing that he died before he could respond to the accusations against him.
The controversy stems from Vatican sanctions imposed in 2020 following an internal investigation into allegations that Gulbinowicz sexually abused minors and concealed abuse by clergy under his authority.
The Holy See barred him from public ministry, denied him burial in a cathedral, and ordered him to make a financial contribution to a victim support organization.
Gulbinowicz, who was 97, died days after the sanctions were announced.
While the Vatican initially referred only to unspecified allegations, its official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, later reported that the sanctions were linked to accusations of child sexual abuse, “homosexual acts,” as well as a 16-year collaboration with the communist-era Polish security services.
The cardinal was never convicted in a criminal court. A complaint filed in 2019 alleging abuse decades earlier was dismissed by prosecutors because the statute of limitations had expired.
The Vilnius District Council is expected to revisit the issue at its next session on Friday.