| Type: | Archbishop |
| Honorific-Prefix: | His Excellency |
| Juozapas Jonas Skvireckas | |
| Archbishop of Kaunas | |
| Archdiocese: | Kaunas |
| Appointed: | 5 April 1926 |
| Term: | 1926–1959 |
| Term Start: | 13 May 1926 |
| Term End: | 3 December 1959 |
| Successor: | Vincentas Sladkevičius |
| Ordination: | 24 June 1899 |
| Consecration: | 13 July 1919 |
| Consecrated By: | Antanas Karosas |
| Birth Date: | 18 September 1873 |
| Partner: | --> |
Juozapas Jonas Skvireckas (18 September 1873 – 3 December 1959) was a Lithuanian archbishop of Kaunas (1926–1959).[1]
Skvireckas was born in Pašilaičiai[2] or near Pumpėnai.[3] He attended high school in Panevėžys and the seminary at Žemaičių Kalvarija,[3] and he was ordained in 1899.[2] During the First World War, he performed pastoral duties in Smolensk and Tula.[3] He was made a titular bishop in 1919, and in 1925 he became archbishop of Kaunas.[2]
From 1911 to 1937, he translated the Bible into Lithuanian; it was published in six volumes by the Society of Saint Casimir.[4] During the occupation of the Baltic States by the Nazis, Skvireckas and his assistant, Bishop Vincentas Brizgys, initially welcomed the Nazis.[5] Skvireckas provided chaplains for Lithuanian-manned Nazi auxiliary units.[6] Later, however, Skvireckas issued multiple protests to Nazi authorities regarding the conditions of the Catholic Church in Lithuania.[7] He also sent reports to the Vatican, and in 1942 he started receiving instructions from the papal office.[7] He intervened on behalf of the Jewish population,[3] and in 1942 it was reported he was wounded by the Nazis in an incident that left another priest dead[3] —however, it was in fact Archbishop Mečislovas Reinys that had been injured.[8] In 1944, Skvireckas, Brizgys and over 200 other Lithuanian clergymen left Kaunas with retreating German forces and went into exile.[6] He settled in Austria, where he died in Zams in 1959.[2] [9] After his death, the post of (arch)bishop of Kaunas was vacant until 1989.