Lithuania: Provincial Delegation in Lithuania, 
of the Province of St. Maximilian M. Kolbe in Poland (Gdańsk) 

The Jurisdiction currently has ten solemnly professed friars and three friaries. 

Vilnius: Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Friary
This is the oldest Franciscan friary in Lithuania. The first friars came to Vilnius before the Christianization of Lithuania (1387) and actively participated in its conversion. The first two bishops of Vilnius were Franciscans. However, some of the earliest friars in Vilnius were martyred and shed their blood in witness to the faith. They are commemorated by three white crosses on a hilltop overlooking the historic city center.
The Order continued to grow In the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and a Franciscan Province was created, headquartered in Vilnius. In the 18th century, the friary was significantly expanded and, together with its rural buildings, occupied the entire district of the historic city center. Following the defeated uprisings [against Russian rule] in 1830-31 and 1863-64, the activity of the Order and the friary in Vilnius was first curtailed and then suppressed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the friars returned to the historic Friary and Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Vilnius. During communism, the friary was emptied again and in 1949, the Franciscan presence in Vilnius was terminated. In 1998, the friars reopened the church and in 2017, after a long struggle, reopened the friary as well. Thanks to the efforts of Friar Marek Adam DETTLAFF, the Conventual Franciscans have not only returned to Vilnius, they also have the support of many benefactors who have invested in the renovation of the church and friary, where work is underway to restore their original splendor and historical value. Thus, increasing numbers of faithful and tourists will have the opportunity to learn more about the Conventual Franciscan spirit. The friars also operate a publishing house called “Studia Franciscana Lithuanica.” Since 2017, the friary’s Center for Culture and Spirituality has organized numerous thematic retreats, “iconotherapy” [healing through icons], children’s camps, concerts and other interesting activities.

Medininkai: St. Casimir Friary
In 1956, after his return from exile in Siberia and some brief assignments in Jašiūnai and Rudniki, Friar Kamil WEŁYMAŃSKI was sent to the parish church in the village of Medininkai, in the Vilnius region, to serve as its associate pastor. After the death of the diocesan pastor in 1965, Friar Kamil was appointed the new pastor, while still living out his religious and Conventual Franciscan identity to the full. After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, at the request of Friar Kamil himself, Friar Sławomir SKWARCZEK and later other friars joined him in Medininkai. In 1994, the friary was canonically erected together with the novitiate.

Klaipėda: St. Anthony of Padua Friary
After several years of collaboration between our confreres and diocesan priests in the Parish of St. Józef Robotnik, the Most Reverend Jonas BORUTA, Bishop of Telšiai (Klaipėda), Lithuania, created a new parish, and entrusted it to the Conventual Franciscans. The patron saint of the parish is St. Bruno of Querfurt, Bishop and Martyr. For the first six years, the friars served the faithful in a chapel and lived in a rented apartment. After buying land, making the necessary plans and obtaining building permits, with support from the Order and individual Jurisdictions, a chapel was built in 2012 and a friary was erected in 2017. On December 9, 2023, a new church was consecrated and opened for worship. Currently, the friars do parish work, provide Conventual Franciscan pastoral ministry to the Secular Franciscans and Franciscan Youth, and give joyful witness to trusting in God’s love.

Franciscan Missionary Center
General Secretariat for Mission Animation