Vilnius district council misses quorum for Gulbinowicz street debate

The Vilnius district council could not consider renaming streets named after Polish clergyman Henryk Gulbinowicz because it lacked a quorum, LRT reported.

Only 11 of the council’s 31 members attended Friday’s meeting. The entire Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance faction was absent and had not informed the council secretary why, Mayor Robert Duchnevičius said.

The council was due to discuss the proposals for the third time this year. Its next meeting is scheduled for October 12.

The proposed changes would rename streets in Buivydžiai eldership, an administrative district, and Nemenčinė as Buivydžiai and Gabriel Jano Mincevičiaus, respectively. The proposals were resubmitted while a case is being heard at the Regional Administrative Court. The government representative for Vilnius and Alytus counties has asked the court to overturn earlier decisions on the names of two streets.

The council considered renaming the streets in February and April but rejected the proposals both times. The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania–Christian Families Alliance, which holds a majority on the council, had previously opposed the changes.

Gulbinowicz, who was born in Šukiškės village in Vilnius district, became archbishop of Wrocław and was made a cardinal in 1985. The Vatican imposed disciplinary sanctions on him over numerous cases of sexual abuse of minors, concealing clergy’s child sexual abuse crimes and 16 years of cooperation with the Polish People’s Republic security service. He died in November 2020.

The council also rejected a proposal last September to strip Gulbinowicz of the district’s honorary citizen title.