Bishop Paul Baltakis, OFM

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Bishop Paul Baltakis who died Friday, May 17, in his beloved country of Lithuania. 

Bishop Baltakis was born in Lithuania on January 1, 1925, the second oldest of eleven children. He entered the Franciscan Order in Belgium in 1945 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1952.  In 1953, he emigrated to Canada and served in a number of Lithuanian parishes before being elected provincial of the Lithuanian Franciscan Vicariate of St Casimir. He moved to Kennebunk, Maine, in 1979.

On June 7, 1984, Pope John Paul II appointed Father Baltakis, Titular Bishop of Egara for the spiritual assistance of Lithuanian Catholics living outside of Lithuania.  He was ordained on September 17, 1984, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Portland.  He made his office in Mespeth, New York, and retired from active ministry in 2004.

After retirement from active ministry, he moved back to his beloved monastery in Kennebunk, where he remained until 2018.  He then returned to Lithuania to be closer to family.

Funeral services were held in Lithuania.

Please pray for the consolation of his religious and natural families and for the many Lithuanians who loved him.

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.  Amen