LATVIA, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN

Located in eastern Europe, the Republic of Latvia borders the gulf of Riga on the north, estonia on the northeast, lithuania on the south and the Baltic Sea on the west. Comprised of lowlands, Latvia boasts a continental climate, with moderately cold winters. Its terrain rises in the eastern lake region, and most of the country is well forested. Natural resources include amber, peat, limestone and dolomite, while hydropower from the Dvina River provides half the region's energy needs. Crops include various grains, sugar beets, potatoes, vegetables and dairy products.

Under the domination of German, Polish, Swedish and then Russian governments for many centuries, Latvia gained independence briefly in 1918 before becoming incorporated into the USSR in 1944. In 1991, the region achieved independence, and has since attempted to boost its sagging economy through privatization of its industrial base and the development of trade with the rest of Europe. In the wake of decades of Soviet occupation, ethnic Latvians constitute barely 52 percent of the country's population, while Russians make up about a third of the total. Conflicts over the citizenship status of the Russian population continued to be of concern to the Russian Federation in 2000.

The Early Church . Named for the Lettish people, who originally inhabited the region, Latvia was invaded by Swedes and Russians between 900 and 1000; by the 12th century the Latgali, Kurši, Sēli and Zemgali tribes were settled there. Each tribe had its own administration and state, the strongest of which was Gersika, the Latgalian state on the Daugava River, adjacent to the state of Novgorod. Gersika was Christianized through Byzantium, giving early Latvian religious terminology its Slavonic characteristic. The faith spread throughout the region, reaching Riga, then home to Livonians and Germans. Augustinian canon St. Meinhard founded a church and chapel of canons in 1180 at Ikškile, southeast of Riga, and became the first bishop of Livonia in 1186. albert i became Riga's first bishop in 1201 and there established the knights of the sword, who, together with the Order of the Cross, conquered most of the eastern Baltic. Riga was suffragan to Bremen until 1214. Innocent III (1198–1216) made the see exempt, and in 1255 it became a metropolitan see.

Reformation to Communism . Albert (Hohenzollern) of Prussia, grand master of the teutonic knights, secularized the ecclesiastical territory to form the first Duchy of Prussia and introduced lutheranism into Latvia c. 1530. Interior weaknesses brought Livonia (modern-day Latvia and Estonia) to its political downfall. War with Russia, from 1558 to 1582, devastated the region and it split into two parts, Vidzeme and Latgola, both of which fell under Polish rule from 1561–1629. The Swedish took Vidzeme in 1629; Latgola remained in Polish hands until 1772, when Russia acquired it in the partition of Poland; Kurzeme became the independent Duchy of Kurland in 1721. Under Polish rule, Latgola remained Catholic according to the principle of cuius regio, eius religio, with the Dominicans and Jesuits contributing greatly to its spiritual and cultural growth (see dacia).

Under Czarist rule, until it won independence in 1918, Latvia was under constant pressure to conform to Russian ways, including eschewing the Latin rite for the Roman Orthodox faith. Roman letter type was banned in 1865 with the purpose of annihilating both Catholicism and the native tongue. This ban was not lifted until 1904, when Latgalian literature finally began to develop. During the ban, books became scarce and were either written by hand or were smuggled in from Tilsit. The prayer book, studied privately at home, was the sole means of education. A strong nationalist sentiment remained throughout the country. Chief among those who advocated against the Russification of the faith were P. Miglinīks (1850–83), A. Jurdžs (1845–1925), K. Skrynda (1875–1919), A. Skrynda (1881–1933), F. Kemps (1876–1952), N. Rancāns (1870–1933), and F. Trasuns (1864–1926).

In 1918, with the collapse of the Russian Empire following World War I, the Latvian provinces united and declared their independence. After a period of chaos under a Bolshevik occupation (1918–20) during which Catholics were persecuted, the region gained political stability. Tsarist rule had left Latvia with a shortage of priests, many of its churches destroyed by the war, and its leading laymen dead from a typhoid epidemic. Within ten years the country had rebuilt its industry and had progressed in all areas of life, including matters of faith. The Congress of Latvian Catholics met in Rezekne in

1917 and adopted a resolution to form one state but to retain local autonomy, freedom in religious matters and the use of High Latvian. Under Pope benedict xv the diocese of Riga was restored, and churches were rebuilt. Seminarians who had once prepared for the priesthood at the seminary in St. Petersburg, now attended seminaries in Aglyuna, Riga or in western European universities. In 1939, when Latvia's population was less than two million, 60 percent of Latvians were Lutheran, 25 percent Catholic, six percent Greek Orthodox and five percent Jewish.

In 1920 a Catholic political party was formed that took an active role in policymaking until 1934, when a coup d'état led by the fascist Karlis Ulmanis led to the abolishment of all political parties, as well as curtailment of freedom of speech and of the press. A highly centralized totalitarian regime was established that lasted until 1940. Despite the change in government, the Church continued to function in the country, and religious such as the Marian Fathers worked in Vilāni, and the Capuchins in Skaistkaine and Riga. Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, from Austria, conducted a girl's high school in Jaunaglyuna, while Sisters of the Holy Cross and Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus also performed humanitarian services. The first papal nuncio to Latvia was Antonio Zecchini (1922–35). Antonio Arata became nuncio in 1935 but was expelled in 1940, as the country entered another phase of its history.

The Church under Communism. In June of 1940 the Red Army entered and occupied Latvia. Devastation followed, as Catholic institutions were suppressed and priests and laymen arrested, threatened and tortured. The Lutheran Church's educational functions were also curtailed and most theological institutes were closed. Massive deportations created such havoc that many Latvians welcomed the arrival of invading German forces in June of 1941. The policy of the German occupying government toward the Church was ambivalent: not to destroy and not to help. While their policy toward the faith was viewed favorably in comparison to that of Russia, the mass killings of Latvian Jews that occurred during the Holocaust presented a moral challenge to the Church.

Once Soviet forces returned in October of 1944, following the end of World War II, the government's disregard of the Church drastically changed, and Catholics were rigidly watched and persecuted. With their bishops exiled or in Siberia, about 100 pastors and nearly 100,000 Latvian laymen fled the country, while massive deportations between 1945 and 1953 sent of thousands of others to Siberia or other remote areas of the USSR. Prohibitive taxes were levied against the Church, and in 1948 religious instruction in churches was banned by the Soviets. At the same time all Church properties were nationalized. The Lutheran and, to a lesser extent, Orthodox Churches in Latvia also suffered from repression and flight to the West, although the Soviet regime was somewhat less active in controlling the Lutheran Church because it lacked a well-organized national-religious dissident movement. Nonetheless the regime's intensification of antireligious propaganda after 1957 continued to have a detrimental effect on all faiths within Latvia.

The Fall of Communism to Present . With the rise of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to power in 1985, the most egregious restrictions on religion were quickly relaxed, and by 1989 virtually all legal restrictions on the Church had been removed. In March of 1990, with the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, the Latvian government proclaimed independence, and the international community recognized an independent Latvian republic in 1991. The new constitution preserved the right of religious freedom, and as an established faith, the Catholic Church received tax benefits and other privileges. Although the majority of the Christian population in Latvia were members of the Lutheran Evangelical Church, Catholics formed a majority in sections of eastern Latvia. The Orthodox Church was also active in the country. In 1996, consideration of a Vatican proposal to reestablish the 1922 Concordat between the Holy See and Latvia was undertaken, although other churches in the country objected to the possibility of the Catholic Church gaining favored status. The Church also requested permission to establish a faculty of theology at the then nondenominational University of Latvia.

By 2000 there were 214 parishes tended by 88 diocesan and 21 religious priests in Latvia. In addition, 80 sisters worked within the country. Encouraging Church leaders to take an active role in promoting Catholic unity, Pope John Paul II recalled his trip to the region in 1993 and noted during a September of 1999 meeting with Latvian bishops that "indifference and religious relativism" were among those aspects of society that most threatened the country's Catholic population. By 2000 efforts were underway to establish an ecumenical dialogue in Latvia.

Bibliography: r. wittram, Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart, 7 v. (3d ed. Tübingen 1957–65) 1:850–856; ed., Baltische Kirchengeschichte (Göttingen 1956). l. arbusow, Die Einführung der Reformation in Livonia, Estonia und Kurland (Halle 1921). a. bilmanis, A History of Latvia (Princeton 1951). m. hell-mann, Das Lettenland im Mittelalter (Cologne 1954). m. bourdeaux, Land of Crosses (Chulmleigh UK 1980). a. lieven, The Baltic Revolution: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the Path to Independence (New Haven CT 1993). r. j. misiunas and r. taagepera, The Baltic States: Years of Dependence 1940–1990 (2d ed. Berkeley 1993). v. s. vardys, "Human-Rights Issues in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania," Journal of Baltic Studies, 12 (fall 1981) 275–98; Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, eds., j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 6:986–987.

[l. latkovski/eds.]