Archbishop of Kaunas

Archdiocese of Kaunas Archidioecesis Kaunensis Kauno Arkivyskupija
Kaunas Cathedral, the mother church of the Archdiocese
Location
Country	Lithuania
Statistics
Area	8,750 km2 (3,380 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2013) 665,000 533,000 (80.2%)
Information
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Latin
Established	1417 (As Diocese of Žemaičiai) 4 April 1926 (As Archdiocese of Kaunas)
Cathedral	Cathedral Basilica of St Peter and St Paul
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Metropolitan Archbishop	Lionginas Virbalas
Suffragans	Diocese of Šiauliai, Diocese of Telšiai, Diocese of Vilkaviškis
Auxiliary Bishops	-
Emeritus Bishops	Sigitas Tamkevičius
Map
Map of the Archdiocese
Website
Website of the Diocese

The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas (Latin: Archidioecesis Kaunensis) is a Latin archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania.

It is based in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. The archdiocese's motherchurch and cathedral archiepiscopal see is Kaunas Cathedral Basilica; it also houses a Minor Basilica in a town of Šiluva, in the region of Samogitia. The current Archbishop is Lionginas Virbalas, Jesuit (S.J.), appointed by Pope Francis on June 11, 2015.

Predecessor of the diocese was established according to directions from the Council of Constance on October 24, 1417 as the Diocese of Samogitia (Polish: Żmudź; Lithuanian: Žemaitija), with a see in Medininkai. It was the second Catholic diocese in ethnic Lithuanian parts of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

On March 25, 1798 it lost territory to establish the Diocese of Wigry. On July 3, 1848 it gained territory from the persisting then Diocese of Vilnius, now Lithuania's other Metropolitan see. On June 9, 1920 it lost territory to the existing Diocese of Riga (in Latvia), while in the next year it gained territory from the persisting Diocese of Sejny (in Poland).