A government representative has filed a lawsuit against the Vilnius district municipality for failing to rename streets named after Polish cleric Henryk Gulbinowicz, who was sanctioned for paedophilia.
Gulbinowicz, the former archbishop of Wroclaw and a cardinal, was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2020 following his death over allegations of sexual abuse of minors and collaboration with communist-era Polish security services.
The Electoral Action of Poles in Lithuania – Christian Families Alliance, which holds a majority in the Vilnius district council, opposes both the renaming of the streets and the revocation of the honorary title.
The municipal council was ordered to reach a decision by mid-April but failed to do so. The issue was scheduled for discussion in late March but was postponed pending the results of a public consultation.
"We applied to the Regional Administrative Court at the end of last week," Gedmantė Eimontienė, the government representative for the Vilnius and Alytus counties, said on Wednesday.
The Vilnius district municipal council is expected to revisit the street naming issue this Friday.
"If the municipality decides to rename the streets, we will withdraw the lawsuits," Eimontienė said.
In March, the Vilnius district municipality initiated a local survey regarding the renaming, citing a need for transparency and community engagement. The survey ran from March 19 to April 15.
The municipality previously rejected calls to rename Gulbinowicz streets. Last year, it also voted against stripping the late cleric of his honorary citizenship.
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