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Lietuvos reformacijos istorijos ir kultūros draugija
LERD "RADVILA"
Reformed church property temporarily protected by Court
Monday, 28 November 2011 08:06
Litigation in Biržai

Painful and shocking summer events centred on Biržai Evangelical Reformed Church seem to have passed into silence already. Night and day watches have been abandoned and no security patrol car can be seen in the vicinity of the church. Daily morning and evening services are no longer held. Normal life in the Evangelical Reformed parish has taken its course again. You get the impression that the entire episode was just a dream which faded away upon waking up. Unfortunately, the experience of the Reformed Evangelical community is the reality that entails continuation and some sort of effect.

Since decent coverage of the run of events that started on the evening of 24 June 2011 has already been offered and numerous videos have been available for viewing on our and other video sharing websites, there is no need to repeat them. It is important that Biržai Evangelical Reformed parish succeeded in defending its right to use the church building and the parochial house. The unprecedented malicious attempt to restrict the traditional religious community's right to pray and perform devotions as well as to disrupt a regular 2011 assembly of the Synod of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania was prevented. Following the given act, about 130 parishioners filed petitions at the local police office. A pre-trial investigation was commenced at Biržai Police Station with a subsequent move to Panevėžys. The investigation is still in progress.

Shortly after the incident on the evening of June 24, the leadership of Biržai Evangelical Reformed parish filed an appeal with the District Court of Biržai Region for the imposition of interim measures on the buildings within the confines of the said Evangelical Reformed parish.

The buildings which have been used, repaired, and maintained by the said parish for almost 20 years incessantly (the church building) or after their recovery (the rectory building), were registered / re-registered with Panevėžys Centre of Registers on behalf of the legal entity the Synod College of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania (hereinafter "SCERCL") instead of Biržai Evangelical Reformed parish by action of Algimantas Kvedaravičius, the former Reverend Deacon.

It is worth remembering that the building of Biržai Evangelical Reformed Church, nationalized in 1948, was handed over to the parish and thereby so far belongs to it. The building was not returned to the community since it was not included in any balance-sheet. It was not until very recently that the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania undertook to draft legal principles governing the restitution of such nationalized churches for their former owners. As mentioned above, the church building, exempt from the state nationalized property restitution act, was registered with Panevėžys Centre of Registers on behalf of the SCERCL at A. Kvedaravičius' personal request. Biržai Evangelical Reformed parochial house was returned under resolution adopted by Biržai District Municipality but again, without sending word to Biržai Evangelical Reformed parish, was re-registered with Panevėžys Centre of Registers on behalf of the SCERCL at A. Kvedaravičius' personal request. When inaccurate records were disclosed, the Centre of Registers restored them upon application however the restoration process violated legal procedures. This allowed A. Kvedaravičius to initiate legal action whereby the wrong property registration was reserved again.

The District Court of Biržai Region commenced civil proceedings in respect of the said property and also imposed interim measures thereby slightly reducing tension. The SCERCL, however, appealed to higher authority against the court decision (the complaint was signed by Dalia Liaukevičienė). September 20th of this year, the District Court of Panevėžys City dismissed the complaint lodged by the SCERCL thereby extending legal protection. Following that decision, keeping 24-hour watch in the church for nearly three months straight was discontinued.

The District Court of Biržai Region held the hearing of the church and rectory buildings on the 25th of November.

Concerning other judicial processes pertinent to the events in Biržai and commenced in Vilnius, the leadership of Biržai Evangelical Reformed parish as plaintiff filed a motion asking the Court to suspend the process pending resolution of the cases in the capital (lawsuits there have been brought on the basis of both illegal sales of church property and the powers held by the SCERCL in general). The District Court of Biržai Region took the plaintiff's request into consideration.

Litigation in Vilnius

When the Reformed parish community in Biržai was fighting for their church, the spontaneous "bargain-sale" of the Evangelical Reformed congregation's real estate registered under the name of the SCERCL was undertaken in Vilnius with the intention of a subsequent resale of the given property which was being sold at less than fair value. Through the church lawyers, Rev. Tomas Šernas, General Superintendent of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania, immediately moved the court for suspension of D. Liaukevičienė and A. Kvedaravičius' action on behalf of the legal entity the SCERCL. Following the 14/10/2011 Vilnius Regional Court decision, the real estate remaining at the disposal of the SCERCL was seized and measures were taken to stop the sold asset resale. On 21 November 2011, Vilnius Regional Court passed a judgement for the imposition of interim measures on the already sold property of the church to prevent its subsequent sale or transfer to third parties.

The real estate of the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Christians in Vilnius consists of historic buildings located in Pylimo Street. They were erected as far back as the rule of the Tsarist Russia. For a long time, Vilnius had been the centre of the Evangelical Reformed community in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Before the Second World War, the Evangelical Reformed service used to be said both in the Polish and the Lithuanian languages in Vilnius. At the beginning of the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed assembly, the priest Jonas Šepetys was appointed its pastor by the Synod. A famous library and the archives of the Lithuanian Evangelical Reformed Synod operated within the building currently located at No. 7 in Pylimo Street. The Reformed Evangelical community in Vilnius recovered the building in 1993. The leadership of the SCERCL sold the building for less than half of its market value on 26 June this year, right at the outset of the events in Biržai. In late September and early October, the new "owners" sought to resell the building, however, this was precluded by the above mentioned court judgement. Meanwhile, all the apartments in the building No. 20 Pylimo Street recovered by the church and registered under the name of the SCERCL have been sold.

Legal proceedings in Vilnius are not restricted to the given cases. Last week, the lawyers of the Synod of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania (Unitas Lithuaniae) filed a motion at the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Lithuania to initiate a pre-trial investigation and to start criminal proceedings. Obviously, it was an attempt to appropriate or embezzle the large scale property of the Evangelical Reformed Church of Lithuania in Vilnius.

Naturally, all trials are costly. They include payments to attorneys, proceedings-related travel cost reimbursement for the representatives of the church, document preparation fees, and expenditures associated with filing suits. These costs are borne largely by Biržai Evangelical Reformed congregation. Most of the contributions to cover legal costs were collected in the summer but purposeful donations are collected in all the Evangelical Reformed parishes and can also be transferred directly into an account of the Synod. Donors are actively engaged in protecting the church assets from embezzlement and using the church property for its intended purpose.

The mundane heritage of the church requires protection which means attention and effort of the faithful themselves. Money alone cannot protect the assets; they require prayers and works of the faithful, public attention, and consistent cooperation among all people of good faith.

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