Vilnius district council again drops Gulbinowicz street renaming

Vilnius District Municipality Council has once again removed a proposal to rename streets named after Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz from its agenda, LRT reports. Waldemar Urban, head of the Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance faction, proposed dropping the item. Sixteen councillors supported the move, 10 opposed it and one abstained.

The council also failed to discuss the proposal on October 16, when it and several other items were removed from the agenda. Two other council meetings planned in October to consider related matters did not take place because there were not enough members to form a quorum. The LLRA-KŠA faction, which holds a majority on the council, did not attend those meetings.

Attempts to rename streets named after Gulbinowicz have been unsuccessful before, with the council majority either declining to consider the issue or voting against it. The municipal administration has proposed renaming the streets in Nemenčinė and Buivydžiai eldership to Buivydžiai Street and Gabriel Jan Mincewicz Street.

In 2020, the Vatican sanctioned Gulbinowicz for sexually abusing minors and covering up sexual abuse crimes committed by clergy. The sanctions barred him from public religious ceremonies and meetings and from using episcopal insignia. He was also denied funeral rites and burial in a cathedral, and was instructed to give money to a Church fund supporting victims of sexual abuse. Gulbinowicz died in 2020 and remains an honorary citizen of Vilnius district.