Sigitas Tamkevičius was born on November 7th, 1938, one month almost to the day after the death of Saint Faustina.
he was ordained in 1962 and consecrated as bishop in 1991. Ultimately he was appointed a cardinal by Pope Francis on October 5, 2019 (yes, on the Feast Day of Saint Faustina).

In 1955 Tamkevičius entered the Interdiocesan Seminary in Kaunas (Lithuania). In 1957 S. Tamkevičius left the seminary for obligatory military service. After his service, he return to his studies and graduated seminary in 1962. In 1968 he entered the Society of Jesus although Catholic religious congregations were illegal according to Soviet law). Because of his activism against Soviet authorities, Fr. Tamkevičius was forbidden from exercising his priestly ministry. He worked in a factory and in the land reclamation area for a year.

In 1972 while being vicar in Simnas parish Fr. Tamkevičius initiated the compilation of the underground publication, The Chronicles of the Catholic Church of Lithuania which made known in the West details of religious discrimination in Soviet-occupied Lithuania. Fr. Tamkevičius was the editor of The Chronicles for 11 years. In 1978 together with four other Lithuanian priests Fr. Tamkevičius founded The Catholic Committee for Defense of the Believers’ Rights. In 1983 Fr. Tamkevičius was arrested and put on trial for anti-Soviet propaganda and agitation. He was sentenced to ten years in exile. Fr. Tamkevičius spent his prison term in labor camps of Perm and Mordovia. In 1988 he was further exiled to Siberia. Thanks to the liberalization of Soviet political trends brought about by perestrojka, Fr. Sigitas Tamkevičius was eventually set free.

In 1996 Msgr. Tamkevičius was appointed Archbishop of Kaunas and served as president of Lithuanian Bishops Conference.

From 2005-2015 Archbishop S. Tamkevičius SJ served as a president of the Commission for Media & Social Communication of Lithuanian Bishops Conference.

Archbishop S. Tamkevičius SJ will be presenting on the history of the The Chronicles of the Catholic Church of Lithuania, as well as a brief discussion of Soviet Times in Lithuania.