Julijans Vaivods

{{Short description|Latvian cleric}} {{More citations needed|date=January 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = [[His Eminence]] | name = Julijans Vaivods | honorific-suffix = | title = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga|Cardinal Apostolic Administrator of Riga]] | image = 19950818 8sant Latvia Postage Stamp.jpg | image_size = 230px | alt = | caption = Latvian postage stamp depicting Julijans Vaivods | church = [[Roman Catholic]] | archdiocese = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga|Riga]] | province = | metropolis = | diocese = | see = | term_start = 10 Nov 1964 | term_end = 24 May 1990 | predecessor = Pēteris Strods | opposed = | successor = Jānis Cakuls | other_post = Cardinal-Priest of Santi Quattro Coronati Titular Bishop of Macriana Maior  | ordination = 7 April 1918 | consecration = 18 November 1964 | cardinal = 2 February 1983 | created_cardinal_by = [[John Paul II]] | rank = Cardinal  | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1895|8|18}} | birth_place = [[Vārkava parish|Vārkava]], [[Latgale]], [[Vitebsk Governorate]] ''([[Latvia|Present day Latvia]])'' | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1990|05|24|1895|08|18}} | death_place = [[Riga]], [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvian SSR]], [[Soviet Union]] ''([[Latvia|Present day Latvia]])'' | buried = [[Basilica of the Assumption, Aglona|Basilica of the Assumption]] in [[Aglona]] | nationality = Latvian | religion = | residence = | parents = | spouse =  | children = | occupation = | profession = | previous_post = | alma_mater = | motto = | signature = | signature_alt = | coat_of_arms = | coat_of_arms_alt =  | feast_day = | venerated = | saint_title = | beatified_date = | beatified_place = | beatified_by = | canonized_date = | canonized_place = | canonized_by = | attributes = | patronage = | shrine = | suppressed_date =  | other = }} {{infobox cardinalstyles | cardinal name=Julijans Vaivods | dipstyle=[[His Eminence]] | offstyle=Your Eminence | relstyle=[[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|Cardinal]] | See=Riga |}} '''Julijans Vaivods''' (18 August 1895 – 24 May 1990) was a [[Catholic Church in Latvia|Latvian Catholic]] prelate who served as [[Apostolic administration|Apostolic Administrator]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga|Riga]] and of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Liepāja|Liepāja]] from 1964 until his death in 1990. He was made a cardinal in 1983, the first from [[Latvia]]. He was the oldest living cardinal when he died at age 94. He was also a [[KGB]] agent throughout the [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet period in Latvia]].

==Biography== Julijans Vaivods studied at the [[Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy]], Russia. He was ordained [[priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] for the [[Metropolitan Archdiocese of Mohilev]] by Bishop [[Jan Cieplak]] on 7 April 1918 in St. Petersburg. He was initially sent back to Latgale to serve as a parish priest and school chaplain. He came under the jurisdiction of the newly restored Diocese of Riga on 22 September 1918. He was sent to serve as a parish priest in [[Courland]] (Kurzeme) in 1925. He later came under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Liepāja when it was created in 1937. While serving as the [[vicar general]] of that diocese, he was elevated to [[monsignor]] on 4 July 1949.

Msgr. Vaivods was imprisoned by the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] authorities from 1958 to 1960. In 1962 he became vicar general of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Riga. In 1964 he received a papal invitation to travel to Rome to attend the third session of the [[Second Vatican Council]].

On 18 November 1964 he was consecrated [[titular bishop]] of Macriana Maior by [[Paolo Marella|Paolo Cardinal Marella]] in Rome. Cardinal Marella was assisted by Latvian bishops-in-exile [[Jāzeps Rancāns]] and [[Boļeslavs Sloskāns]]. Bishop Vaivods returned to Rome in 1965 to participate in the fourth session of the Second Vatican Council. He died in 1990 and was buried at the [[Basilica of the Assumption, Aglona|Basilica of the Assumption]] in [[Aglona]].

In 2018, it was revealed that on 28 July 1948, the [[Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union)|Special Department of the Soviet State Security Ministry]] recruited Vaivods as an agent under the codename 'Omega'. He remained a collaborator with the [[KGB]] through the Soviet period.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Corley |first=Felix |title=The Latvian KGB's clergy agents |url=https://www.academia.edu/38042677 |journal=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-12-21 |title=Latvian cardinal, ex-PM, judge top list of KGB collaborators |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20181221-latvian-cardinal-ex-pm-judge-top-list-kgb-collaborators |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |date=2019-01-18 |title=4,141 Latvians Were Just Outed as K.G.B. Informants |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/18/world/europe/latvia-kgb-informants.html |access-date=2025-03-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvaivods.html Julijans ''Cardinal'' Vaivods] *[http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-2.htm#316 Cardinals Created by John Paul II (1983)] *[https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios-v.htm#vaivods#vaivods The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church]

{{s-start}} {{s-ach|rec}} {{succession box | title = [[List of living cardinals|Oldest living Member of the Sacred College]] | years = 29 December 1986 – 24 May 1990 | before = [[Pietro Parente]] | after = [[Henri de Lubac]] }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaivods, Julijans}} [[Category:1895 births]] [[Category:1990 deaths]] [[Category:People from Preiļi Municipality]] [[Category:People from Dvinsky Uyezd]] [[Category:Latvian cardinals]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]] [[Category:Latvian Roman Catholic bishops]] [[Category:Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy alumni]]