Lithuanian PM demands Church cooperation after two priests charged in child sex abuse cases
After cases against two Lithuanian priests accused of sexual offenses involving children were referred to court, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius demanded transparency and cooperation from the Catholic Church with law enforcement.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Thursday he expects the Catholic Church to cooperate openly with law enforcement and to answer whether adequate measures were previously in place to detect and prevent child sexual abuse. His statement came after criminal cases against two priests accused of sexual offenses involving minors were referred to court.
In a social media post, Sinkevičius said the government must also examine whether current legal and institutional safeguards sufficiently protect children across schools, families, sports organizations, religious institutions and other settings. He said there can be no tolerance for sexual violence against children and that no institution's reputation should outweigh a child's safety. The prime minister stressed the cases are not an attack on faith or the Catholic Church itself, but added that respect for the Church cannot justify silence.
Charges and court proceedings
One priest is accused of sexual offenses against 11 minors, with law enforcement data pointing to 34 alleged criminal episodes stretching from 2002 to 2025. That case has been sent to the Vilnius Regional Court. The second priest faces a charge of possessing child pornography; authorities say no victims have been identified in this case, which has gone to the Vilnius City District Court. Lithuanian outlets Delfi and Liteko named the accused as Tadas Svedavičius and Ryšardas Peciunas.
The Archdiocese of Vilnius said it learned of the allegations from prosecutors only after pretrial investigations had begun. Both priests have been suspended from their duties, and the Church has opened its own canonical investigations into the matter.
