Lithuania's Catholic Church launches investigation into sexual crimes against minors

The Lithuanian Bishops' Conference, the governing body of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, has decided to open an investigation into sexual crimes committed against minors and vulnerable adults within the church since 1990.

Scope of the investigation

The inquiry will cover the period starting in 1990 and aims to determine the number of cases in which minors and vulnerable adults suffered sexual abuse connected to church institutions or church-affiliated structures.

What is known so far

The decision to begin the investigation was made by the Lithuanian Bishops' Conference. Detailed information on the specific methods, timeline, or individuals involved in the investigation has not been made publicly available.

Internal investigations of this kind have become more common in recent years across several European Catholic churches, which have faced public and congregational pressure to disclose historical cases of abuse and to provide greater transparency about how such complaints were handled in the past.