John Gritenas
Bishop of the Lithuanian National Catholic Church

John Gritenas (born Jonas Gritėnas; 23 June 1884 – 28 December 1928) was bishop of the Lithuanian National Catholic Church (LNCC), a small religious denomination based in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Gritėnas was born in Vilnius, (then the Russian Empire), the son of Aleksandras Gritenas and Lucya (née Kumorowski). He immigrated to the United States in 1910. He attended the Polish National Catholic Church's Seminary in Scranton and 1914 was ordained as a priest by Father Franciszek Hodur.
In 1920, Gritėnas was appointed pastor of the Scranton parish of the Lithuanian National Catholic Church, and he prepared prayer books and other theological publications. He was consecrated as a bishop by the synod of the Polish National Catholic Church on August 17, 1924. He returned to Lithuania in 1922 and 1927, where he hoped to set up a parish of the American LNCC, but his health began to decline. In 1928, he died of diphtheria.
“John Gritenas” enters the record as bishop of the Lithuanian National Catholic Church. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what John, Gritenas and Bishop can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“John Gritenas” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, John, Gritenas and Bishop provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q16030345. VIAF identifies the subject as 3611154260473424480007. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1884, 1928, 1910 and 1914.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “John Gritenas”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow John Gritenas primary sources, John Gritenas archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John Gritenas”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “John Gritenas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.