LITUANUS LITHUANIAN QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES   Volume 33, No.4 - Winter 1987 Editor of this issue: Antanas V. Dundzila ISSN 0024-5089 Copyright © 1987 LITUANUS Foundation, Inc.

ABOUT THIS ISSUE . . .

The principal theme for Lithuanians in 1987 was 600 years of Lithuanian Christianity. Commenting on the religious significance of this anniversary, Philip Skabeikis1 rather aptly stated: "If France is the 'oldest daughter of the Church', then Lithuania is the 'youngest daughter of the Church'."

Bearing on the anniversary theme, this issue of Lituanus explores the historical circumstances of the 1387 baptism. Lituanus happily presents three main articles on this subject.

William Urban, Professor of History at Manmouth College, summarizes the setting of the 1387 event.

Vanda Sruogienė- Sruoga presents Jogaila, the principal Lithuanian personality responsible for the Christianization of Lithuania in 1387. Dr. Sruoga's continued collaboration with Lituanus has been a profound privilege to the editors in general and this editor in particular: Dr. Sruoga contributed an article in 1954 for the maiden issue of our quarterly.

It is a pleasure to introduce Rasa Mažeika to our readership. As part of her research for her recent PhD thesis (Fordham University, 1987) she analyzes possible religious overtones of Jogaila's father, Algirdas.

The articles are preceded with an introduction by Saulius Sužiedėlis who authored a book in English on Lithuanian Christianization.

The customary features of Book Reviews, Art, and Data Bank complete this issue of Lituanus.

The suppression of religious life in today's Soviet-occupied Lithuania is one of the most prominent and painful human rights violations known. The facts are recorded in the famous, enduring samizdat publication, "The Chronicle of the Catholic Church of Lithuania". See the Data Bank for excerpts from the Chronicle.

The baptism of 1387 applied to ethnic Lithuania alone, not to all the Lithuanian-ruled lands of the Duchy, which were mostly inhabited by Slavs. To pinpoint Lithuanian ethnic regions, two maps are appended.

1 Philip Skabeikis, Catholic Lithuania 600 Years, The Lithuanian Roman Catholic Priests' League, 1987.