Essential components and their implementation in pastoral care of Lithuanian Catholics in emigration in 1945–1984

After the World War II there were thousands of migrants – refugees who had left their native lands and homes to escape from the Soviet oppression and regime to settle in the West and to form their national communities there. Great quantities of Lithuanians were among those who emigrated to the West. They were extremely abundant in number. While in the West, Lithuanians would gather into national communities, in Canada and Australia they joined the already existing communities to make the number of Lithuanian emigrants even greater. As a matter of fact, the Holy See reacted immediately to the situation by issuing an Apostolic Constitution “EXUL FAMILIA NAZARETHAN” in 1952 which became the background document for pastoral care to be appropriately implemented for the migrants. The hypothesis of the work is the following: the absence of “political restriction”, as it was in the “free world”, allowed Lithuanian emigrants to carry out all the components of pastoral care according to the regulations set by the Catholic Church. Part one of the article investigates / analyses the essential (substantial) documents of the Catholic Church, such as: “EXUL FAMILIA NAZARETHANA”, the instruction “DE PASTORALI MIGRATORUM CURA” and the documents of the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL according to which the following migrants’ pastoral care components have been defined. They are: STRUCTURALIZATION (e. g. organization of migrants’ pastoral care - confined exceptionally to clergymen (ministers of religion), laymen, and the representatives of the consecrated / sanctified life of constant pastoral care of the believers / church-goers), the celebration / commemoration of the MIGRANTS’ DAY, the absence of the UNIVERSAL / GENERAL criterion (in the migrants’ pastoral care). The context of the pastoral care for Lithuanian migrants in 1945–1984, based on the earlier defined components, is presented in the second part of the work, and thus, the fulfilment of pastoral care of Lithuanian migrants according to the set criterion is disclosed. It became clear after the analysis of theoretical material that the criterion of UNIVERSALITY as a feature component of pastoral care for Lithuanian migrants was absent (missing). In other words, keeping in mind the importance of the application of correct / right ways and forms to the people in specific places and circumstances, while considering different contexts as well as historical experiences of emigrants, should have taken place. It is necessary to admit in this connection that other features of the components were more or less adequate to pastoral care in relation to the Lithuanians residing in foreign countries in 1945–1984