Bishop of Telšiai (-Klaipeda)
Born: March 24, 1972. Ordained priest: December 26, 1996. Ordained bishop: August 19, 2018. Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kaunas: July 2, 2018. Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Kaunas: March 1, 2019. Bishop of Telšiai: June 1, 2020. Algirdas Jurevičius was born in Vievis on March 24, 1972, into the family of Elena and Vytautas Jurevičius. After completing his studies at the Vievis Children's Music School and finishing nine grades at the Vievis Secondary School in 1987, he continued his musical education at the Vilnius J. Tallat-Kelpša Higher Music School (now the Vilnius Juozas Tallat-Kelpša Conservatory). From 1986 to 1991, he directed the choir and worked as an organist at St. Anne's Church in Vievis; from 1990 to 1991, he worked as a religion teacher at Vilnius Secondary School No. 44 (now Senvagė Secondary School). From 1991 to 1996, he studied at the Kaunas Priest Seminary and the Faculty of Theology at Vytautas Magnus University, graduating with honors and earning a Bachelor's degree in Theology. While studying at the seminary, he served as an organist, and during Pope John Paul II's visit to Kaunas on September 6, 1993, he played the organ during Holy Mass at the Kaunas Santaka. In July and August of 1996, he studied the German language in Leipzig (at InterDaF e.V. am Herder-Institut der Universität Leipzig). 1996. On September 15, he was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Kaišiadorys, and on December 26, 1996, Bishop Juozas Matulaitis of Kaišiadorys ordained him a priest and appointed him vicar of the Kaišiadorys parish and youth chaplain. From 1996 to 1998, he pursued a master's degree at the Faculty of Theology of Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas (specializing in dogmatics), earning the qualification of Licentiate-Master of Catholic Theology. From 1996 to 1997, he worked as a formator for seminarians from the Diocese of Kaišiadorys at the Kaunas Priest Seminary; from 1996 to 1998, he taught dogmatic theology; and in 1999, he worked as an assistant at the Department of General Theology at Vytautas Magnus University. In 1998, he was appointed vicar of the Kaišiadorys parish and chaplain for Catholic classes. That same year, he was appointed administrator of the Aukštadvaris and Vytautava parishes. From 2000 to 2004, he studied practical theology at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), completing his studies with a doctorate in practical theology. From 2001 to 2004, he assisted with pastoral care for the Polish community (Polska Misja Katolicka, Hanau) in the Diocese of Fulda and was responsible for pastoral care for the Lithuanian community in Stuttgart (Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart). Since 2004, he has served as Vicar General to the Bishop of Kaišiadorys and as a lecturer at the St. Joseph Priest Seminary in Vilnius. In 2011, he worked as a scientific expert for a project at the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. From 1998 to 2008, he served as the notary for the beatification cause of the Servant of God Archbishop Teofilius Matulionis, and in 2017, he was appointed postulator for the canonization cause of Blessed Teofilius Matulionis. In 2006, he was awarded the Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) medal. In 2008, Pope Benedict XVI conferred upon him the title of Chaplain of His Holiness (Monsignor). In 2015, he received the *Exuli bene de Ecclesia merito* medal ("For Expatriates Meritorious to the Church"). In 2017, he was a recipient of the Kaišiadorys District Municipality Culture Award. He is the author of several books and numerous scholarly and publicist articles. On July 2, 2018, Pope Francis appointed Msgr. Algirdas Jurevičius as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kaunas, assigning him the titular see of Materiana. On August 30, 2018, Bishop Jurevičius was elected by the Lithuanian Bishops' Conference (LVK) as the bishop responsible for matters concerning Church teaching (doctrine). From March 1, 2019, he served as the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Kaunas. On June 1, 2020, Pope Francis appointed A. Jurevičius as Bishop of Telšiai. On November 18, 2024, he was elected Chairman of the LVK Education Commission.