Diversion of EU funds deplored

Lithuania’s Catholic Church has accused the centre-left Government of using European Union funds to exclude Catholic projects, writes Jonathan Luxmoore. “The Government has set new priorities in the allocation of European Social Fund money,” said Linas Kukuraites, director of the Church’s Caritas charity in Lithuania’s Vilnius Archdiocese. “These have included modernising its own children’s homes and other institutions, and the result is that projects from organisations such as ours are receiving less support and may now have to close.”  The lay Catholic was speaking during a visit from the International Society for Human Rights. He said Vilnius Caritas ran 40 social programmes on an annual budget of €1.8 ­million (£1.2m), helping 16,000 homeless people and alcoholics, single mothers and large families. Many were having to be cut back after withdrawal of EU funds by Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius’ Government.