Bishop Jonas Algimantas Boruta, a member of the Commission, died at the age of 78.
According to jezuitai.lt, Jonas Boruta secretly began his theological studies in 1975 at the underground seminary. In 1982, he defended his thesis on physics and mathematics, ratified by the Lithuanian Science Council on 19 October 1992, awarding Jonas Boruta the degree of Doctor of Science.
After the arrest of the first editor of the Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, Fr. Sigitas Tamkevičius, SJ, in 1983-1989, he was the editor-in-chief of this publication. Twenty-one editions of this important publication were prepared and published during that time.
On 5 January 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed Jonas Boruta Bishop of Telšiai.
In 2016, the genocide and resistance research center of Lithuania recognized Jonas Boruta as a participant of the Freedom Fights.
He was awarded the January 13th Commemorative Medal in 1992, the Lithuanian Independence Medal in 2000, and the Order of the Vytis‘ Cross (the Knight) in 1998. In 2021 he became
Laureate of the Freedom Prize.
Bishop Jonas Boruta was a member of the Commission from 2005 to 2012.
Photo by P. Lileikis (lrytas.lt)