Archbishop says accused priest promised compensation

Gintaras Grušas, the metropolitan archbishop of Vilnius, said Thursday that priest Tadas Švedavičius, who is accused of sexual crimes, had promised to compensate those affected, LRT reported.

“The priest himself is prepared to provide compensation. He has promised to allocate money. We are now waiting for concrete steps,” Grušas told LRT Radio.

Švedavičius is accused of sexual crimes against 11 minors. Law enforcement records 34 criminal episodes, ranging from forcing children to consume alcohol to sexually assaulting them. The alleged offences took place over 23 years, from 2002 to 2025.

The case has been referred to the Vilnius Regional Court. In a separate case referred to the Vilnius City District Court, another priest, Ryšardas Peciunas, is accused of possessing child pornography. There are no victims in that case.

Grušas said members of the Church community were receiving training on creating a safe environment. More than 600 parish coordinators, youth workers, teachers, pastoral workers and priests have completed the training, he said.

Under rules in force since November 2024, people who want to work with children must have a special QR code confirming that they have not been convicted of serious or sexual offences. The data is taken from a non-public register of suspects, defendants and convicted persons.

Grušas said the accused priests had QR codes and that the codes of all priests were currently being reviewed.