Lithuanian and Belarusian Constitutional Catholic Party.

About Lithuanian and Belarusian Constitutional Catholic Party

The Constitutional Catholic Party of Lithuania and Belarus was a political party in the Russian Empire, founded by the Bishop of Vilnius Edward Ropp on 7 February 1906. It sought the unification of the lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the aim of regional self-government. It worked for the establishment of a Polish government and the formation of Polish armed forces. The party demanded the exemption of Catholics from the compulsory tithe of the Russian Orthodox Church, autonomy for the Catholic Church in matters of clerical education without state interference, and the right of Catholic bishops to have direct communications with the Holy See. Ropp was elected to the State Duma of the Russian Empire.