The Lithuanian Catholic Federation Ateitis (literally, 'future') is a youth organization in Lithuania uniting Catholic-minded schoolchildren, university students, and alumni. Ateitis is a member of the Fimcap umbrella group of Catholic youth organizations.[1] Members of the Ateitis Federation are known as ateitininkai.[2]
The aim of Ateitis is the integral development of young people enabling them to be effective apostles of Christ and creative agents capable of changing society according to Christian values.[1] For historical reasons another central aim is to preserve the national heritage and culture of Lithuania. The five principles of Ateitis are: Catholicism, community spirit, social responsibility, education and patriotism.[3] The motto of Ateitis is To Renew All Things in Christ (Latin: Omnia Instaurare in Christo, Lithuanian: Visa atnaujinti Kristuje).[4].
The primary goals of the organization were first outlined in an article that was part of the first issue of Ateitis called "Three Fundamental Questions" that was written by a law student at the University of Moscow Pranas Dovydaitis. The questions discussed were "what do we call ourselves and why?", "What do we see around us?" and "What are our priorities, aspirations and paths to them?". Furthermore, this article defended Christian theism and the compatibility of a Catholic theological worldview and modern scholarship. [5][6]
The origin of the name of the Ateitis Federation comes from the journal Ateitis, which was first published in 1911.[5]
History
Ateitis was founded on February 19, 1910, the day on which the Executive Committee of the newly organized Lithuanian Catholic Student association was elected in the Catholic University of Louvain.[5]
In February of 1911 the first magazine was published as a supplement to the 50th addition of the monthly literary, scientific and political journal "Draugija". Two years later in 1913, it was launched as an independent magazine.
Under the Czarist regime of Russia such youth groups were illegal, the organization was clandestine until World War I, however following the Russian Revolution of 1917, the organization endorsed other Lithuanian organizations who sought to restore the Independence of Lithuania. In the years following the Restoration of the state of Lithuania, Ateitininkai fought in the Lithuanian Wars of Independence.
During the years of the first Independence of the Republic of Lithuania Ateitininkai became a major academic organization, with membership of secondary schools, university students, and university alumni. In 1927 the Palanga Conference united the three then existing associations of into the Ateitis Federation.[5]
In the 1930s the authoritarian nationalist regime of President Antanas Smetona made it illegal to join Ateitis during the high school in order to slow down the growth of the organization, as many members of Ateitis later on had become leaders of the oppositional Christian Democratic Party.[7]
By 1998 the governing body of the Ateitis Federation had returned back to Lithuania, and in the following year was followed by the official journal Ateitis.[5]
Ateitis is member of the international umbrella of Catholic youth organizations Fimcap since the General Assembly in Ghana in 2001. The first contact between Fimcap and Ateitis took place in Kehl, Germany, in 1999 during the Eurocontact seminar of Fimcap. After that, contacts between Fimcap and Ateitis became more frequent, ties grew stronger and this finally resulted in Ateitis being a full member of Fimcap.[3]
Notable members
Kazys Bobelis (1923–2013): Lithuanian surgeon and politician, member of the Seimas
Vytautas Bogušis (born 1959): dissident and politician, member of the Seimas
↑ Kriaučiūnas, Romualdas (Fall 2010). "Ateitis: Federation for the Future". Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences. Lituanus Foundation, Inc. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
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