page_title: Vincentas Borisevičius
section_title: Rector in Telšiai
hierarchical_section_title: Vincentas Borisevičius / Biography / Rector in Telšiai
caption_attribution_description: Lietuvių: Popiežiaus Pijaus XI karūnacijos minėjime (karūnuotas 1922-02-12.) dalyvavę dvasininkai, iš kairės: J. Juodaitis, J. Gasiūnas, Pr. Urbonavičius, vysk. J. Staugaitis, V. Borisevičius, A. Simaitis, než., J. Narijauskas. English: Commemoration of the coronation of Pope Pius XI at the Telšiai Priest Seminary. From the left: Justinas Juodaitis, J. Gasiūnas, Pranas Urbonavičius, bishop Justinas Staugaitis, Vincentas Borisevičius, A. Simaitis, unknown, J. Narijauskas.
context_page_description: Vincentas Borisevičius was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop of the Telšiai Diocese. The process of his canonization was initiated in 1990.
  Born to a family of well-off Lithuanian farmers, Borisevičius was educated at the boys' gymnasium of the Church of St. Catherine in Saint Petersburg, Sejny Priest Seminary, and University of Fribourg in Switzerland. In 1913, he became a vicar and prison chaplain to Kalvarija. During World War I, he evacuated to Minsk where he worked as a chaplain of the 10th Army of the Russian Imperial Army. Upon return to Lithuania in 1918, he became chaplain and religion teacher at the Marijampolė Gymnasium. In 1922, he moved to teach moral and pastoral theology as well as social sciences at the Sejny Priest Seminary. In 1926, Justinas Staugaitis, the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Telšiai, invited Borisevičius to help him organize the diocese and the new priest seminary in Telšiai. The seminary was officially opened on 4 October 1927 and Borisevičius was its rector until it was closed in 1940 in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation of Lithuania. In 1940, he became auxiliary bishop of Telšiai and a titular bishop of Lysias.
context_section_description: In 1926, as part of a broader reorganization of Lithuanian dioceses by Pope Pius XI, Justinas Staugaitis became the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Telšiai. Staugaitis organized the new diocese and invited Borisevičius to become his vicar general and later the first rector of the new priest seminary in Telšiai. The seminary was officially opened on 4 October 1927. He later constructed a new three-floor building for the seminary. He also taught moral theology based on the writings of Adolphe Tanquerey. His goal was not to prepare academics, but priests for practical work among the people. He addressed the students every day for about 15 minutes before lunch emphasizing piousness, devotion to God, discipline, morality. According to his students, he was scrupulous, almost a perfectionist, who wanted to quickly transform the clerics to perfect priests. He strictly enforced the discipline, insisted on showing proper respect to superiors, and was not hesitant to expel the students for "lack of calling". He remained rector until 1940 when the seminary was closed in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation in June 1940.
  On 16 February 1928, Borisevičius was elevated to prelates by the pope. He participated in the congresses of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science, chairing their theology section in 1936 and 1939 and presented papers on Lithuanian religious character and on moral virtues in writings of bishop Motiejus Valančius. He also contributed articles to various Lithuanian Catholic periodicals, including Vadovas, Šaltinis, Žiburys, Laisvė, Rytas, Spauda ir gyvenimas, Žemaičių prietelius, Ateitis, but mostly to Tiesos kelias. Staugaitis and Borisevičius purchased printing presses so that the diocese could more easily publish its periodicals. He was a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul that helped the poor and a strong supporter of the Catholic Action movement.
caption: Bishop Staugaitis (fourth from left) and Borisevičius (fifth from left) at the Telšiai Priest Seminary in 1930
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