Jānis Pujats was born in Nautrēni parish, Latgale, Latvia, on 14 November 1930. He was ordained a priest in a secret ceremony on 29 March 1951 — two months after the Soviet Union closed Riga's theological seminary. Teaching art history and liturgy at the reopened seminary, he led the implementation of the Vatican II liturgical reform in Latvia and published the first missal in Latvian. Vicar General of the Riga curia from 1979, he was declared persona non grata by the KGB in 1984 and sent back to parish work.
On 8 May 1991, as Latvia regained independence, John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Riga (consecrated 1 June by Archbishop Colasuonno); he presided over the Latvian bishops' conference (1998–2010) and was the only Synod of Bishops member to address the assembly exclusively in Latin (2001, 2005). John Paul II created him a cardinal in pectore — in secret — in February 1998, publicly proclaimed three years later, on 21 February 2001, with the title of Santa Silvia. He retired on 19 June 2010 and co-signed the 2019 “Declaration of Truths.” His motto is Ad Jesum per Mariam — “to Jesus through Mary.”
Major Works & Initiatives
Archbishop of Riga
Nineteen years rebuilding Latvia's Church.
The first Latvian missal
Implemented the Council's liturgy in Latvia.
Cardinal in pectore
Created in secret, proclaimed three years later.
Controversies
The 2007 Riga Pride letter
In a May 2007 open letter protesting the Riga Pride march, Pujats called homosexuality “absolute depravity in sexual behavior” and an “unnatural form of prostitution” (Interfax), and urged the faithful to “be prepared to go out into the streets” in disciplined protest (Baltic Times). The letter drew international press coverage.