Nijole Sadunaite, a fearless but forgiving Roman Catholic nun and anti-Soviet Lithuanian nationalist who was inspired by Pope John Paul II and publicly hailed by President Ronald Reagan, died on March 31 in Vilnius. Her death was confirmed by Sister Gerarda Elena Suliauskaite, laureate of the Freedom Prize of the Republic of Lithuania, which was also given to Sister Sadunaite in 2018 for her defense of democracy and human rights. In 1975, Sister Sadunaite (pronounced sah-DOO-nay-teh) was arrested by K.G.B. agents who had stormed an apartment where she was writing an underground newspaper, The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, which documented abuses against Christians in the Baltic state. “I had typed six pages when I was caught, so I effectively got one year for every page,” she told The Atlantic in 1994.

---

Persons: Nijole, Pope John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, Sister Gerarda Elena Suliauskaite, Sadunaite, “, ” Organizations: Catholic Church Locations: Soviet Lithuanian, Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania, Baltic