Photograph Of Blessed Teofilius Matulionis 20 October 1933 Photographer Unknown

Blessed Teofilius Matulionis

Blessed

Post-Congregation

Feast Day

20-Aug

Born

22 June 1873 in Alantos, Moletai, Russian Empire (in modern Lithuania)

Died

During a routine search of his apartment by Soviet authorities, he was given an injection by a KGB nurse and dropped dead on 20 August 1962 in Seduva, Radviliškis, Lithuania; his body was exhumed and autopsied in 1999; tests indicated that he had been poisoned; interred in the crypt of the Transfiguration Cathedral of Kaišiadorys, Kaisiadorys, Kaišiadorys District Municipality, Kaunas, Lithuania

Beatified

25 June 2017 by Pope Francis; beatification celebrated at the square of the Cathedral Basilica of Šventasis Stanislovas ir Šventasis Vladislovas, Vilnius, Lithuania, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato; it was the first beatification celebrated in Lithuania; it was the first beatification of a Lithuanian martyred by Communists

Venerated

1 December 2016 by Pope Francis (decree of martyrdom)

Biography

Blessed Teofilius Matulionis, also known as Blessed Teofilius Matulionis, was born on 22 June 1873 in Alantos, Moletai, Russian Empire (in modern Lithuania). He was the middle of three brothers born to the peasant family of Jurgis Matulionis and Ona Juocepyte. Unfortunately, his mother passed away, and his father eventually remarried, having seven more children.

Cause for Canonization

Beatified

Beatified2017-06-25 by 25 June 2017 by Pope Francis; beatification celebrated at the square of the Cathedral Basilica of Šventasis Stanislovas ir Šventasis Vladislovas, Vilnius, Lithuania, presided by Cardinal Angelo Amato; it was the first beatification celebrated in Lithuania; it was the first beatification of a Lithuanian martyred by Communists