Meaning of religiousness for the development of a person in the writings of Mečislovas Reinys

Arkivyskupas Mečislovas Reinys buvo daugiakrypte veikla užsiimanti asmenybė: ganytojas, Lietuvos Respublikos Užsienio Reikalų ministras, profesorius, kankinys. Didelį dėmesį jis skyrė tautos lavinimui, asmenybės ugdymui. Savo straipsniuose nagrinėjo su asmenybės ugdymu susijusias problemas, tyrinėjo sąlygas, svarbias asmenybės ugdymo procesui. Šiuo metu pradėta jo beatifikacijos byla. Straipsnyje aptariama arkivyskupo Mečislovo Reinio raštuose atsiskleidžianti religingumo svarba ugdymui.The archbishop Mečislovas Reinys was one of the most educated personalities. He sought education not only at the school in Mūrinė Ašmena or the gymnasium in Riga, but also at the seminary in St. Petersburg, universities of Leuven and Strasbourg. After return to Lithuania and noticing how re-emerging Lithuania lacks educated people, he started pedagogical work. With the permission of the Archbishop of Vilnius of that time Jurgis Matulaitis MIC, since 1922 he moved to Kaunas and worked at the University of Lithuania (later – Vytautas Magnus University). He worked there until 1940 but did not confine himself to the audience of university. He spread his thoughts and ideas both through the faithful community and media. He wrote both scientific and publicist articles aiming to introduce the newest scientific discoveries to as many people as possible. After becoming the Archbishop of Vilnius, he defended the Catholic faith during the years of soviet occupation by refusing to denounce his ideas. Unfortunately, his vast written legacy of this period has not been collected, systemized and properly analyzed. This article presents the personality of Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys. His articles, which analyze the importance of religiousness to the development of a person, are discussed while finding parallels between the time period, during which the Archbishop lived, and issues related to education today. The article also seeks to reveal the links between religious practices and education and their importance. The Archbishop stated that one of the most important factors for the development of a person is religiousness. According to him, a religious person is a thinking person. Therefore, the development and prosperity of the nation depends on virtuous people. He gave special attention to the family. Practices that are used in a family have the decisive influence on personality. Thus, the Archbishop tried by all means to strengthen the institution of family. According to the Archbishop, religious practices are very important in family life; they allow person to think, to direct the thoughts upwards to the metaphysics or to movie towards it. Archbishops’ thoughts are related to the ideas of the University of the Blessed Cardinal John Henri Newman. The article tries to compare these similarities in their thoughts and to apply them in today’s context