This page contains the text (where available, in both Lithuanian and English) of the first and one of the latest of Kimo’s emails to the Ratas with his libelous claims. (We have also added one of his public Facebook posts). Where appropriate, our responses are provided. We have highlighted the statements we can prove are false and have provided commentary in parenthetical italics.

This email was posted by Kimo to the Ratas mailing list February 22, 2021.

Lietuviškai

English

Problema: Romuvos reputacija, dezinformacija, neetiškas elgesys religiniame kontekste. deja, nėra labai įdomi istorija, bet manau, kad tai yra svarbus klausimas, kurį reikia spręsti dėl mūsų ateities ir reputacijos. Aš nežinau, ar tu žinai, bet vyksta kvailos intrigos su keturiais žmonėmis, kurių aš nelabai nepažįstu. Jie dalyvavo senoje amerikiečių „Romuva Yahoo“ pokalbių grupėje Amerikoje ir kai kuriose Amerikos „Romuva“ grupėse Amerikos rytinėje pakrantėje. Mūsų Krivis Jaunius norėjo, kad aš būtų astovas Šiaurės Amerikoje į autentišką baltų religiją Lietuvoje ir Romuva maždaug 2005 m., Kai jis pirmą kartą privertė mane vaidilą. Bent 3 iš šių 4 žmonių, su kuriais susiduriu, dabar paprašė manęs atlikti šį darbą dėl problemų su ego ir žmonėmis, kurie maišė wicca ir new age su mūsų prigimtine religija ir pan. Tada Jaunius 2008 m. Paskelbė, kad aš esu Šiaurės Amerikos vaidila (this was in 2012, 2 years AFTER we enlisted Kimo’s help) šioje „yahoo“ grupėje. Aš pradėjau dirbti šiuo klausimu ir kurti bendruomenę su daugeliu nepriklausomų Šiaurės Amerikos žmonių, kurie jaučia ryšį su mūsų religija. Aš sugalvojau pavadinimą „Romuva North America“, norėdamas atskirti savo darba nuo kitų Romuvų, (see this page) tokių kaip Dunzilos „Romuva USA“, „Romuva yahoo chat group“, „Boston Romuva“ ir kt. Marija Kuncaitis feisbuke įkūrė pokalbių grupę pavadinimu „ „Romuva Siaures Amerika“ tuo pačiu metu (Maryte began her ” RomuvaNA” Facebook group 4,5 years before Kimo started his RomuvaNA Facebook page ), kai aš padariau religinės bendruomenės puslapį „Lietuvos Romuva Šiaurės Amerika“ 2011. Kaip žinote, vaidilu ratas patvirtino mane kaip Romuvos Šiaurės Amerikos vaidilą per 2016 m. Krivule. Vėliau Senunes paskyriau Leslie Rzeznik ir Mariją Kuncaitį, tačiau tai buvo labiau „garbės“ Sunune titulas (jų nerinko bendruomenė), nes norėjau suteikti jiems pripažinimą už daugelio metų darbą su „Yahoo“ pokalbių grupe ir motyvuoti juos dirbti su manimi. Iš pradžių buvo tam tikras entuziazmas. Norėjau įsteigti juridinį religinį vienetą JAV. Aš paprašiau Leslie Jurate Rzeznik padėti man tai padaryti. Ji sakė, kad padės paduoti dokumentus ir išvardins mane kaip organizacijos principą. Vėl buvo kažkoks entuziazmas, bet tada ji dingo, po poros metų šiek tiek entuziazmo dingo. Nė vienas iš jų nesulaukiau jokio atsakymo, kai kalbėjau apie „Romuva“ Šiaurės Amerikos reikalai ar uždaviau tiesioginius klausimus. Aš tai priėmiau kaip „defacto“ atsistatydinimą. Daug laiko perejau. Tada staiga vienas iš jų mano „Facebook“ religinės bendruomenės puslapyje paskelbia įrašą, kuriame prašo aukoti pinigu „Lietuvos Romuva Šiaurės Amerika“. Pirmiausia ji manęs neklausė ir , kaip žinote, pinigų prašymas religijos kontekste yra subtilus. Kai kurie žmonės supyko, kai kurie davė pinigų (as stated elsewhere, ONLY ONE of Kimo’s followers donated money and he was fine with the money funding the Michigan incorporation – to our knowledge, Kimo has provided NO proof that anyone was angry about the appeal for the GoFundMe). Paprašiau, kad ji, prieš pradėdama tokius dalykus, pirmiausia paklaustų ir kam skirti pinigai. Ji man pasakė „mes tai jau aptarėme“. Taigi maniau, kad tai yra tas pats planas įtraukti. Po 6 mėnesių man persiunčiamas elektroninis laiškas, kurį jie išsiuntė Inijai apie juridinio religinio subjekto steigimą Mičigane (kainuoja apie 80 EUR), naudojant mano bendruomenės pavadinimą „Romuva North America “ . Jos valdyba yra Leslie Rzeznik, Marija Kuncaitis, Laura Juozunas ir Jonas Stundzia. Aš nesu valdyboje. Bet jie sako, kad vieningai mane išrenka savo vaidila. Žinoma, aš negaliu būti dvasinis lyderis ar figūros vadovas, jei neturiu galimybės pasakyti, kokį juridinį asmenį jie sukūrė. Taigi buvo 2 variantai, arba mes dirbame kartu, bet aš turiu būti valdybos narys arba direktorius (there is no legal requirement for a spiritual leader to be a director, CEO, or Board Member – this is usually discouraged). Arba mes dirbame atskirai, bet jiems reikėtų sugalvoti originalų pavadinimą, kad nebūtų painiojami skirtingi mūsų darbai. Abu šie sprendimai padarė Rzeznik pasiutes ir labai agresyvius. Rzeznikas kalba už juos visus (All communications were reviewed and agreed upon by all board members) ir yra direktorius kartu su Stundzia siame orginozacija. Dabar žvelgdamas atgal matau, kad buvo neetiška ir neskaidri motyvacija suformuoti šį Mičigano bažnyčios darinį. Suprantu, kad jie norėjo naudoti bendruomenę ir prekės ženklą, kurį sukūriau per tuos metus, ir naudoti juos aukoms rinkti (Maryte, Jurate, Jonas, and Laura were building the community that WE INVITED KIMO TO LEAD for over 10 years prior to him becoming involved. It was NEVER his “community” or his “brand” – it was OURS collectively), Mano manymu, toks neetiškas elgesys neleidžia jiems būti Senuniai ar religiniais lyderiais. Nenoriu dirbti su jais ar būti atsakinga už viską, ką jie daro. Paprašiau jų sugalvoti pavadinimą, kad būtų galima atskirti save nuo kitų darbo (since our use of Romuva North America predates his use, we have prior rights to the name). Problema ir kodėl tai svarbu mums ir apskritai Romuvai. Pvz .: Įsivaizduokite, jei nuvyčiau į kokį nors kaimą Amerikoje, turėčiau su savimi 2 žmones, sumokėjau 100 USD ir suformavau juridinį religinį vienetą ir pavadinau jį „Romuva“, pradedame prašyti aukų, rengiu valdybos posėdį su 2 kitus žmones ir nusprendžia, kad mes išvarysime Krive ir visus vaidilai. Taip nutinka man ir mano bendruomenei nuo sausio mėnesio. Dabar šie keturi žmonės viešai teigia esantys „Romuvos“ autoritetai, jie teigė, kad mūsų „Krive“ ir „vaidilu ratas“ juos pripažįsta mano bendruomenės ir prekės ženklo „Romuva North America“ lyderiais ir kad jie mane išvarė. Tai atrodo asmeniška (it was only personal in that we didn’t feel that Kimo had been doing his job and wasn’t capable of leadership), tačiau viešai skleidžiama dezinformacija apie „Romuvos vaidilą“ svetainėje, kuri, atrodo, yra oficialus „Romuvos“ feisbuko puslapis. Jie valdo populiarų „Facebook“ puslapį „Romuva“, kuriame taip pat naudojamas „Romuvos“ logotipas. (While Jaunius always encouraged us to use anything from Romuva we saw fit to use, we reached out to Inija to clarify whether or not we could use the logo. She asked that we make a slight change which we did the same day) Daugelis iš jūsų jame paskelbėte. Mačiau, kaip jie pareiškė šias pretenzijas prieš užblokuodami mane šioje svetainėje. Tai daro žalą mūsų reputacijai. Tai labai vaikiška, bet manau, kad tai taps didesne problema. Tai padės diskredituoti mūsų organizaciją (-as) ir suteikti tiems, kurie laiko save mūsų priešais, įrankius mums pakenkti. Turime nustatyti aiškią taisyklę tiems, kurie nėra vaidilai ir pan., Kad jie nekalbėtų mūsų bendruomenės labui be sutikimo. Mes taip pat turėtume sudaryti neutralų taikos susitarimą, kad sumažintume tokius konfliktus. Tikiu, kad tai nebus paskutinė. Joje turėtų būti pasakyta kažkas panašaus į tai, kad abi pusės sutinka pagarbiai ir profesionaliai laikytis atstumo viena nuo kitos ir nepuola bei nepakenkia kitai. (This is what the Board has done on suggestion of Inija, yet Kimo doesn’t see fit to take his own advice) Bet kokios kitos idėjos bus tinkamos tai išspręsti. Ego, godumas ir nepasitikėjimas sugadina ir sukelia nedarną. tegul buna darna, Kimo

Problem: Romuvas reputation, disinformation, unethical behaviour in a religious context. unfortunately not a very interesting story but i think it is an important issue to address for our future and reputation. I don’t know if you know but there is a silly intrigue going on with four people who I dont really know. They have been involved with the old english Romuva Yahoo chat group in America and some American Romuva groups on the East coast of America.  Our Krivis Jaunius wanted me to be a bridge from North America to the authentic Baltic religion of Lithuania and Romuva in about 2005 when he made me vaidila the first time. At least 3 of these 4 people I’m dealing with now asked me to do this work because of problems with ego and people mixing wicca and new age with our indigenous religion etc. Jaunius then made an announcement in 2008 (this was in 2012, 2 years AFTER we enlisted Kimo’s help) that I was the vaidila of North America on this yahoo group. I began working on this and building the community with many independent people of North America who feel a connection to our religion. I came up with the name “Romuva North America” to distinguish my work from other Romuvas, (see this page) like Dunzila’s “Romuva USA”, “Romuva yahoo chat group”, “Boston Romuva” etc. Strangely Marija Kuncaitis started a chat group on facebook called “Romuva Siaures Amerika” right around the time I made a religious community page “Lietuvos Romuva North America” (Maryte began her ” RomuvaNA” Facebook group 4.5 years before Kimo started his “RomuvaNA” Facebook page ) . As you know the vaidilu ratas reconfirmed me as vaidila of Romuva North America during the 2016 krivule. I later appointed Leslie Rzeznik and Marija Kuncaitis as seniunes, but it was more of a “honorary” seniunes title (they were not elected by the community) because I wanted to give them recognition for their work over many years with the Yahoo chat group and to motivate them to work with me. There was some enthusiasm at first. I wanted to form a legal religious entity in the USA. I asked Leslie Jurate Rzeznik to help me do this. She said she would help file the documents and would list me as a principle of the organization. Again there was some enthusiasm but then she disappeared, then couple years later a bit of enthusiasm then disappeared. I would not get any response from either of them when I was speaking about Romuva North America business or asking direct questions. I took this as a defacto resignation. Suddenly one of them makes a post requesting donations on my facebook religious community page as “Lietuvos Romuva North America”. She did not ask me first and as you know asking for money in the context of religion is delicate. Some people got angry some gave money (as stated elsewhere, ONLY ONE of Kimo’s followers donated money and that donor was fine with the money funding the Michigan incorporation – to our knowledge, Kimo has provided NO proof that anyone was angry about the appeal for the GoFundMe). I asked her to ask me first before doing such things and what was the money for. She told me “we discussed this already”. So I thought it was the same plan to incorporate. 6 months later, I am forwarded the email they sent to Inija about forming a legal religious entity in Michigan (costs about $100) using my communities name “Romuva North America” . Its board is Leslie Rzeznik, Marija Kuncaitis, Laura Juozunas, and Jonas Stundzia. I am not on the board. But they say they unanimously elect me as their vaidila. Of course I can not be the spiritual leader or figure head if I have no say in the legal entity they formed. So there was 2 options, either we work together, but I must be made a board member or director (there is no legal requirement for a spiritual leader to be a director, CEO, or Board Member – this is usually discouraged). Or we work separately but they would need to come up with an original name to not confuse our different work. Both of these solutions made Rzeznik furios and very aggressive. Rzeznik speaks for all of them (All communications were reviewed and agreed upon by all board members) and is the director along with Stundzia. Now looking back, I see there was a unethical and nontransparent motivation to forming this Michigan church entity. I understand that to be that they wanted to use the community and brand that I have built over the years and use that to collect donations (Maryte, Jurate, Jonas, and Laura were building the community that WE INVITED KIMO TO LEAD for over 10 years prior to him becoming involved. It was NEVER his “community” or his “brand” – it was OURS collectively). In my opinion this unethical behavior disqualifies them from being Seniuniai or religious leaders. I do not want to work with them or to be responsible for anything they do. I asked them to come up with a name to differentiate themselves from the work of others (since our use of Romuva North America predates his use, we have prior rights to the name) .  The problem and why this is important for us and Romuva overall.  For example: Imagine if I went to some village in America, I got 2 people with me, I payed $100 and I formed a legal religious entity and called it “Romuva”, we start to ask for donations, I hold a board meeting with the 2 other people and decide that we will kick the Krive and all vaidilai out.  This is what is happening to me and my community since January.  Right now these four people are publicly claiming to be authorities of Romuva, they have claimed that our Krive and the vaidilu ratas recognises them as the leaders of my community and brand “Romuva North America” and that they have kicked me out. This appears personal (it was only personal in that we didn’t feel that Kimo had been doing his job and wasn’t capable of leadership) but it is publicly spreading disinformation about a Romuvos vaidila on a website that appears to be an official Romuva facebook page. They operate the popular facebook page called “Romuva” which also uses the logo of Romuva. (While Jaunius always encouraged us to use anything from Romuva we saw fit to use, we reached out to Inija to clarify whether or not we could use the logo. She asked that we make a slight change which we did the same day) Many of you have posted on it. I saw them make these claims before blocking me from this site.  This is causing damage to our reputation. It is very childish, but I think it will become a larger problem. It will help to discredit our organization/s and give those who consider themselves our enemies tools to harm us.  We need to make a clear rule for those who are not vaidilai etc so that they do not speak for our community with out consent.  We should also make a neutral peace agreement to moderate such conflicts. I believe this wont be the last one. It should say something like both sides agree to respectfully and professionally keep a distance from each other and do not attack or harm the other. (This is what the Board has done on suggestion of Inija, yet Kimo doesn’t see fit to take his own advice) Any other ideas will be good to address this. Ego, greed and distrust corrupt and cause nedarna. tegul buna darna, Kimo

Maryte responded on March 30, 2021:

Lietuviškai

English

Labas Visi, Aš norėčiau prisistatyti. Aš esu Marija Kuncaitis, ir mane pakvietė prisijungti prie šio grupe Inija, eidama „Romuva“ Šiaurės Amerikos direktorių tarybos atstovo pareigas. Atrodo, kad yra painiavos, todėl norėčiau išsiaiškinti keletą klausimų. 1. Alka.lt straipsnis, kuriame skelbiama apie mūsų steigimą, buvo Inijos prašymu, kuri vadovavo pastangoms, ją parašė ir paskelbė. Pateikėme informaciją jos prašymu. 2. Mes su Inija pasidalijome savo įkūrimo detalėmis – persiųstame savo steigimo laiškų kopijas Mičigano valstijoje, JAV. 3. Valdyba išreiškė visišką ketinimą dirbti su „Lietuvos Romuva“ / „Inija“ ir vadovauti jai. Tai nepasikeitė. 4. Valdybos nariai vadovaudami dirba nuo 1980-ųjų ir 1990-ųjų. Jonas Stundzia „Romuva Boston“ įkūrė apie 1984m, Vilius Dundzila vienu metu buvo Kauno seniunas, kol persikėlė atgal į Čikagą, ir 1990-ųjų pradžioje įkūrė „Romuva USA / JAV“, Marija Kuncaitis 1998 m. Įkūrė „Romuva Yaho Groups“ ir tapo „Romuva“ Kanada 1997 m. Jurate Reznizk prisijungė prie „Romuva“ JAV maždaug 2001/2 m. Dėl kai kurių išsakytų klausimų. 1. Įsteigimas JAV: a. Bažnyčių atpažinimo būdas JAV yra visai kitoks nei Lietuvoje. Bažnyčios nėra jungiamos federaliniu, bet valstybės lygiu. Įtraukus pripažinimas yra išplėstas visose 50 valstybių. b. Mes neregistravome federalinės 501(C)(3), kuris mus priskirtų labdaros organizacijai. Šiuo metu esame teisėtai registruoti kaip bažnytinė organizacija. Teisinę informaciją galima perduoti, jei kas nors susidomėjo. 2. Mūsų bendruomenės: a. Kiek mes žinome, „Kimo“ bendruomenę sudaro „Facebook“ puslapis, turintis apie 1600 sekėjų, tačiau labai mažai įsitraukęs. Kai Jurate dar buvo administratorė, ji sugebėjo analizuoti metriką ir palyginti Marijos Kuncaičio įkurtos ir kartu su Jurate moderuojamų „Facebook“ grupių veiklą. b. Jurate pažymėjo, kad judviejų įsitraukimo lygis buvo gana skirtingas. Nors su Marijos grupėmis administratoriai / moderatoriai ir grupės nariai bendrauja kasdien, Kimo ir jo pasekėjų įsitraukimas yra gana žemas; būtent Jurate per pastaruosius metus prisiėmė pagrindinę atsakomybę atsakyti į užklausas Kimo puslapyje. c. Mes galime parengti statistiką, jei kas domina. Kimo skaičius gali būti didesnis, tačiau labai lengva spustelėti „LIKE“, o kartu su mūsų grupėmis žmonės iš tikrųjų turi užsiimti. Mes kasdien bendraujame su grupės nariais, o į informacijos prašymus atsakoma per 1-3 valandas. d. Kalbant apie matomumą, „Marija“ ir „Jurate“ yra gerai žinomos kaip „Romuves“ Šiaurės Amerikoje, o kiti reguliariai kreipiasi į mus, ieškodami informacijos apie savo bendruomenių kūrimą. Naujausias pavyzdys – „Romuva Brasil“. Niekas iš jų nežino, kas yra Kimo. 3. Pretenzijos, pareikštos mums: a. Teiginys, kad Kimo iš tikrųjų nepažįsta mūsų direktorių valdybos asmenų – maždaug dešimtmetį jis nuolat bendrauja tiek su „Jurate“, tiek su Marija. Kai Marija 2009 metais lankėsi Lietuvoje, Kimo net praleido laiką su ja, nuvedęs pas Rasą į „Verkių parką“ ir supažindinęs su kitais. Kalbant apie Joną Stundzia ir Laurą Juozūną, taip, jis su jais mažai bendravo. (Laura has since informed us that she met Kimo about 1999 when she was in Lietuva and attended one of the first WCER meetings) Jurate ir Marija buvo jo „Facebook“ puslapio administratorės iki 2021 m. Vasario mėn., Kai jis juos pašalino. b. Kimo tvirtino: „Mūsų Krivis Jaunius norėjo, kad maždaug 2005 m. Aš būčiau tiltas iš Šiaurės Amerikos į autentišką baltų religiją Lietuvoje ir Romuvoje, kai pirmą kartą privertė mane vaidilą“. dar 2007 m. kovo 30 d. jis pareiškė grupėje “Tiesą sakant, aš nesu JAV / Kanados” Romuvos “narys. Aš atstovauju” Lietuvos Romuvai “(ty romuva.lt, J. Trinkūnui ir kt.) vakarinėje n. Amerika. Iš tikrųjų tai nėra didelis dalykas, bet jis šiek tiek kitoks “, o po poros valandų pareiškė:„ Aš nesistengiu užgrobti vadovavimo Amerikos ir Kanados Romuvoje ar priversti tave žengti į šias struktūras. Esu visiškai nepriklausoma ir priklausau Romuvai “. c. Kimo teigė, kad „Jaunius 2008 m. Paskelbė, kad šioje„ Yahoo “grupėje aš esu Šiaurės Amerikos vaidila“. Tai netiesa ir mes galime pateikti įrodymus. Jonas pranešė „Romuva Yahoo Group“ (taip bendraudavo nariai) 2012 m. Gegužės 10 d. Jis paskelbė savo „Facebook“ puslapį netrukus po to ir nebedalyvavo „Yahoo“ grupėje, kuri veikė iki 2019 m. Gruodžio mėn. d. Kimo teigė: „Aš sugalvojau pavadinimą„ Romuva North America “, norėdamas atskirti savo kūrybą nuo kitų Romuvos“. „Romuva North America“ Maryte ir Jurate pirmą kartą panaudojo dar 2003 m., Atstovaudami jungtinėms JAV Romuvos ir Kanados Romuvos pastangoms, kai jie kartu pristatė pagoniškose konferencijose. Po to jis buvo reguliariai naudojamas. e. Kimo teigė: „Norėjau įsteigti juridinį religinį vienetą JAV. Aš paprašiau Leslie Jurate Rzeznik padėti man tai padaryti“. Savo „Facebook“ puslapyje (komentaras dabar ištrintas) jis teigė, kad tai padarė po to, kai „Romuva North America“ buvo priimta į „Ratas“ 2016 m. Tačiau būtent Jūrate kreipėsi į Kimo 2015 m. (actually earlier – in 2014) Vėliau Jūratė atsisakė sekti, nes jai kilo teisinių abejonių dėl Kimo neturinčio nuolatinio adreso Kalifornijoje, kur jis norėjo paduoti. Jūratė turi „Facebook“ pranešimus ir el. Laiškus, kad būtų galima tai paremti. f. Kimo tvirtina, kad inkorporavimą buvo atlikta „nesąžiningai“ ir kad mes „niekada neketinome“ jo įtraukti ir kad tai buvo „neetiška“. Tai klaidinga. Mes pakvietėme jį tęsti mūsų Vaidilos pareigas, tačiau jam išsakius daugybę grasinimų, nes atsisakėme skirti jį generaliniu direktoriumi, pranešėme Inijai, kad šiuo metu neturėsime jokių vaidilų. g. Kimo tvirtina, kad „tai daro žalą mūsų reputacijai“. Vienintelį neigiamą atsiliepimą gavome iš „Kimo“. Vienas žmogus, kuris „seka“ jo puslapį ir prisidėjo prie mūsų „GoFundMe“, patvirtino, kad jam viskas gerai, naudodamas steigimo lėšas, kaip mes, nors „Kimo“ nebėra mūsų organizacijos dalis. Jis netgi padėjo mums išspręsti kai kuriuos mokesčių klausimus ir kitus organizacinius iššūkius. Vienas iš Kimo vaikystės draugų, net susirūpinęs dėl jo, kreipėsi į mus ir sutiko su mūsų organizaciniais pokyčiais ir stebėjosi (kaip mes), kodėl jis taip investuojamas į Šiaurės Amerikos Romuvą, kai jis net nebegyvena čia. Pagrindinė priežastis, kodėl mes įtraukėme „Romuva“ Šiaurės Ameriką tiesiogiai nedalyvaudami Kimo, yra ta, kad nuo tada, kai Kimo pirmą kartą teigė, kad yra Vaidila iš JAV vakarinės pakrantės 2005 m., O po to, kai Jonas 2012 m. bet kokiu prasmingu būdu su mūsų nariais. Kuriant vietos bendruomenes jis nesulaukė jokio palaikymo. Nuo 2006 m., Kai Kaze Kazlauskienė pirmą kartą paprašė pasidalinti apeigomis, jis pasidalijo tik trumpiausiais apeigų aprašymais. Jis niekada nesiekė nieko ko išmokyti ir neatsakė į el. Laiškus. Mes labiau nei norime pateikti duomenis, jei kas nors domisi. Mūsų pranešimų archyvas yra daugiau nei 20 metų ir jame yra daugiau nei 143 000 pranešimų. „Kimo“ šmeižikiškai pareiškė „Romuva North America“ kaip organizaciją ir asmeniškai Jūratei ir Marijai. Mes bandėme racionaliai ir kruopščiai elgtis prie viso to, tačiau negalime ramia sąžine priimti Kimo kaip savo Vaidilos. Reikalavimai, jo sugebėjimas vos atlikti bet kokį darbą ir įskaityti už kitų darbus palaiko mūsų sprendimą dėl Kimo. Jo nuolatinis šmeižtas ir melagingi teiginiai verčia mus abejoti jo tinkamumu bet kokiam religiniam vadovavimui, ir mes tikimės, kad „Ratas“ į tai rimtai pažvelgs. Mes jau tiriame teisines galimybes priversti jį sustoti. Nenorime į šią grupę įtraukti ginčų. Atsiprašau, kad tai įvyko. Mes tiesiog norime tęsti savo darbą, kuris prasidėjo daugiau nei prieš 25 metus. Iki, Marija Kuncaitis

Hello everyone, I would like to introduce myself. I am Marija Kuncaitis, and I have been invited to join this group by Inija as a representative of Romuva North America’s Board of Directors. There seems to be confusion, so I’d like to clarify a few issues. 1. The Alka.lt article announcing our establishment was at the request of Inija, who led, wrote and published the effort. We provided the information at her request. 2. We shared wiht Inija the details of our incorporation by forwarding copies of our incorporation documents from the state of Michigan, USA. 3. The Board has expressed its full intention to work with and be guided by Lietuvos Romuva / Inija. That hasn’t changed. The members of the Management Board have been in office since the 1980s and 1990s. Jonas Stundzia founded Romuva Boston around 1984, Vilius Dundzila was Kaunas elder at the same time until he moved back to Chicago, and in the early 1990s he founded Romuva USA / JAV, Marija Kuncaitis in 1998 founded Romuva Yaho Groups and founded Romuva Canada in 1997. Jurate Reznizk joined Romuva in the United States around 2001/2. On some of the issues raised.ė.ė. 1. Establishment in the United States: a. The way churches are recognized in the United States is quite different than in Lithuania. Churches are not recognized at the federal but at the state level. Recognition is extended to all 50 states. b. We have not registered a federal 501 (C) (3) that would formally recognize us as a federal charity. We are currently legally registered as a church organization. Legal information can be passed on if anyone is interested. 2. Our communities: a. As far as we know, the Kimo community consists of a Facebook page with about 1,600 followers, but very little involvement. When Jurate was still an administrator, she was able to analyze metrics and compare the activities of Facebook groups founded by Marija Kuncaitis and moderated with Jurate. b. Jurate noted that the level of involvement of the two was quite different. Although administrators / moderators and team members interact with Mary’s groups on a daily basis, the involvement of Kimo and his followers is relatively low; it is Jurate who has taken the primary responsibility for answering queries on Kim’s website in recent years. c. We can compile statistics if anyone is interested. Kim’s numbers may be higher, but it’s very easy to click “LIKE,” and with our teams, people really have to engage. We communicate with group members on a daily basis, and requests for information are answered within 1-3 hours. d. In terms of visibility, Mary and Jurate are well known as Romuves in North America, and others regularly contact us for information about building their communities. The latest example is Romuva Brasil. None of them know who Kimo is. 3. Claims submitted to us: a. The claim that Kimo doesn’t really know our board of directors: Kimo has been in constant contact with both Jurate and Mary for about a decade. When Maria visited Lithuania in 2009, Kimo even spent time with her, taking her to Rasa’s Verkiai Park and introducing her to others. As for Jonas Stundzia and Laura Juozūnas, yes, he had little contact with them (Laura has since informed us that she met Kimo about 1999 when she was in Lietuva and attended one of the first WCER meetings). Jurate and Maria were the administrators of Kimo’s Facebook page until 2021 in February, when he removed them. b. Kimo claimed: “Our Krivis Jaunius wanted to be around 2005. I would be a bridge from North America to the authentic Baltic religion in Lithuania and Romuva, when I was forced to play for the first time. ” back in 2007 March 30 He stated in the group “In fact, I am not a member of the US / Canada Romuva. I represent the Lithuanian Romuva (ie romuva.lt, J. Trinkūnas, etc.) in western America. It’s not really a big deal, but he a little different, “and said a couple of hours later,” I’m not trying to seize leadership in America and Canada in Romuva or force you into these structures. I’m completely independent and I belong to Romuva. “ c. Kimo said that “Jaunius in 2008 announced that I am the North American Vaidila in this Yahoo group. This is not true and we can provide evidence. Jonas told Romuva Yahoo Group (how our members interacted) this on 2012, May 10. Kimo posted his Facebook page shortly afterwards and was no longer part of the Yahoo group, which operated until 2019, December. d. Kimo said, “I coined the name ‘Romuva North America’ to distinguish my work from others in Romuva.” Romuva North America was first used by Maryte and Jurate back in 2003, representing the joint efforts of Romuva in the United States and Romuva in Canada, when they presented together at pagan conferences. After that, it was used regularly. e. Kim said, “I wanted to establish a legal religious unit in the United States. I asked Leslie Jurate Rzeznik to help me do it. ” On his Facebook page (comment now deleted), he said he did so after Romuva North America was admitted to the Ratas in 2016. However, it was in Jūrate who approached Kimo in 2015 (actually earlier – in 2014). Jūratė later declined to follow through because she had legal concerns about Kim’s lack of a permanent mailing address in California, where he wanted to file. Jūratė has a Facebook message us and email Letters to support this. f. Kimo claims that the incorporation was “unfair” and that we “never intended” to include it and that it was “unethical.” This is wrong. We have invited him to continue in our role as Vaidila, but after he has made many threats because we have refused to appoint him CEO, we have informed Inija that we will not have any vaidilai at the moment. g. Kimo claims that “it damages our reputation.” We received the only negative feedback from Kimo. One person who “followed” his page and contributed to our GoFundMe confirmed that he was fine with the start-up funds, as we are, although Kimo is no longer part of our organization. He even helped us solve some tax issues and other organizational challenges. One of Kim’s childhood friends, worried about him, approached us and agreed to our organizational change and wondered (like us) why he was so invested in North American Romuva when he didn’t even live here anymore. The main reason we incorporated Romuva in North America without directly involving Kimo is that since Kimo first claimed to be Vaidila on the west coast of the United States in 2005, and after Jonas appointed him Vaidila of Romuva North America in 2012, he rarely interacted in any meaningful way with our members. He has not offered any support in building local communities. Since 2006, when Kaze Kazlauskienė first asked to share the rites, he has shared only the shortest descriptions of the rites if he even bothered to respond. He never sought sought to teach us anything and often did not reply to emails. We are more than willing to provide data if anyone is interested. Our message archive is over 20 years old and contains over 143,000 messages. Kimo has slandered Romuva North America as an organization as well as Jūratė and Marija personally. We have tried to handle all this rationally and diligently, but we cannot accept Kimo as our Vaidila with a clear conscience. The demands, his inability to do hardly any work and his claims of the work of others support our decision for his dismissal. His constant slander and false claims make us question his suitability for any religious leadership, and we hope the Ratas will take it seriously. We are already exploring legal options to force it to stop. We do not want to include disputes in this group. Sorry this happened. We just want to continue our work that started more than 25 years ago. Until Marija Kuncaitis

Kimo’s claims have escalated from “I barely knew these people” and “I tried to work with them” to “I’ve never been part of their organization.”

This is what Kimo posted on the Ratas mailing list in November which spurred Jurate to contact Inija (it was only posted in English):

“This should be handled in the Vaidila Ratas. It’s been nearly a year of time consuming petty annoyances. Some people are working on it but collecting documents is taking a very long time for some reason.

I’m sure as an academic you understand how frustrating it is to work on something from the heart, for the idea, spend countless years on it only to have it attacked by egos… Frankly, I’m disappointed in both sides.. 

This is the problem. 

In 2016 I brought my group “Lietuvos Romuva North America” (started in 2010) into the formalized version of (Lietuvos) Romuva (which, if you’ve read the other pages, you will know is the organization WE invited him into). I only knew these people on the internet and met one of them once in Lietuva. They have never been to any of my apeigas etc. (nor had he been to any of ours despite many invitations over the years and requests to meet going back before 2008. He had also never responded to requests to share his apeigas – prayers, rites, etc.) But I hoped they would help with what I was doing (That didn’t work out.). I told the English speaking community on the Yahoo group that I was not taking anything over (this was said in 2008, NOT in 2016), and no one ever told me or complained there was already a “Romuva North America” when I started “Lietuvos Romuva North America” (see Kaze page and Name page)..  I have no right to speak for them, Dunzila, Stundzia or anyone else in USA accept for what I am doing. In 2016 i could not have brought their 2020 Michigan church into (Lietuvos) Romuva that is impossible (these were always the same organization – we just chose to incorporate in Michigan since Jurate lived there and could manage getting and maintaining the required paperwork). I offered to work with them after they incorporated in 2020 but that also didn’t work out. I don’t recognize their board, and I am not legally connected in any way to their new Michigan church. I can’t speak for them, and the 4 of them (now 3 without Stundzia) can’t kick me out of something I have never been a part of (see Kaze page and Name page) . I feel like I’m dealing with 10 year old kids who make up their own rules.

I don’t know what Inija and them have spoken about and why Inija would have said what she did in the Alkas article without confirming it with me first. But Leslie is either lying to the internet community, or she has no idea what she is talking about. I think it’s a combination of both. by blocking me so I can’t reply to her statement, and now destroying the evidence of the last 10 years of my work (Kimo has made multiple libelous statements that either Jurate or the Board collectively got his Facebook page shut down, when they did not and there is no evidence they did so), it makes me think she is deliberately lying. Labai ne pagoniškai… daugiau political megalomania. They tried to take over the “power” from Kazė in Romuva USA (i did not participate in that) (see Kaze page) , they are trying to do this with me, they will try to do it to Lietuvos Romuva if their strange logic is allowed to continue. People should not be blinded by flattery and our leadership and the ratas should look at the repeating history to protect (Lietuvos) Romuva from nonsense intrigues that pull us away from our spiritual duties.

Tegul būna darną,Jonas Kimo”

From this letter, you can see that his statements have become more and more outrageous.

This is what Kimo has posted in the Baltica group and on a new fake Facebook page “Aimo Krbas”

“The Sun (goddess Saulė) is reborn bringing back the light…

TRUTH – the absolute core of our religion. Our Gods, Darną (harmony), and our morality is based on truth.

FRAUD – an intentionally deceptive action designed to provide the perpetrator with an unlawful gain or to deny a right to a victim.

CRIMINAL FRAUD – theft by false pretense.

Below you will find the official resolution document by the Supervisory Board of Romuva of Lithuania signed by the committee and our highest priest Krive Inija Trinkuniene.

Not exactly what I want to post here, but you’ve all been lied to and it’s important for our community to know the truth so that damage to Romuva can be reversed and harmony may have a chance to blossom.

The finding of the report clarifies the sudden unwarranted attack on my reputation, my community and my fb page of 10 years “Lietuvos Romuva North America” (now deleted by facebook) by the recently incorporated Michigan church with similar name “Romuva North America” who also run a fb page called “Romuva” and “Romuva Šiaurės Ameriką” where they solicit donations claiming to be a part of Romuva of Lithuania which you will see in the committees official document is not true. They further imply that they fired me (founder of Lietuvos Romuva North America and Vaidila/priest of Romuva of Lithuania) from a position as leader of their church which I never consented to nor knew existed in the first place. (I would very much like to see any official document that proves origins of the recently incorporated Michigan church “Romuva North America” from 1992, I suspect they are deliberately conflating it with Dundzilas “Romuva USA” from that time. ) (These pages show our ongoing relationship with Kimo as our vaidila and our discussions of OUR organization using the term “Romuva North America”).

It’s quite embarrassing as this behavior is directly contrary to the teachings and principles of the Baltic religion. Namely harmony / respect / truth. Total destruction and usurpation of your assumed enemy is a directive in the bible. It is absolutely alien to Baltic religion or Baltic spirituality, which is based on peace and sustainability…

The fb page @RomuvaNA “Lietuvos Romuva North America” of 10 years and 1700 followers is now gone forever. If you were a follower or are interested in a more in depth understanding of our religion have a look at:

(Links removed)

I hope this clarification by the Supervisory Committee of the real Romuva will put an end to the pointless aggression, disinformation and misunderstandings in the public. (This committee did not have the evidence presented here and we are appealing this decision.)

(He’s taken great liberties with his interpretation)
In a nutshell the Romuva Supervisory Committee resolution states that:

– I (Vaidila Arbas), am the founder and leader of “Lietuvos Romuva North America” (referred to as “Romuva North America” within Romuva of Lithuania) which is an official part of (Lietuvos) Romuva since 2011 (the year was actually 2016 and it was the organization we ran together),

– I am an official Vaidila of Lietuvos Romuva.

– The recently incorporated Michigan church “Romuva North America” is a separate organisation which is NOT a part of the original Romuva of Lithuania.

– I have no claim to the Michigan church and they have no claim to my work, status or community.

– Both parties should make these points clear to the public.

**I have been saying this from day one. I’ve been diplomatically trying to make these distinctions clear and asked the perpetrators to stop soliciting money from our followers by misleading them using the official logo of Romuva of Lithuania without permission (we had implied permission from Jonas from years past and we have explicit permission from Inija since March 2021) and conflating our orginizations since their aggressive behaviour started over a year ago.

If you live in a free country you can do what you want up to a certain limit. Laura Juozunas and Maryte Danutė Kuncaitis led by Leslie Rzeznik (Stundzia as I understand has resigned a long time ago) have stepped over the line on several levels, religious, spiritual, ethical and legally. All statements claiming to be a part of Romuva of Lithuania, any fund raising under that premise, use of our official logo or trademarks, etc. should be stopped immediately and it should be publicly made absolutely clear that at no time has your orginization been a part of Lietuvos Romuva and at no time have you had a Vaidila as a part of your orginization. Only communities belonging to Lietuvos Romuva have Vaidilas. There is a formal process for a community to join Lietuvos Romuva, it’s not as simple as paying $100 filing fee, claiming a name and assigning titles.

I wish you the best in your endeavors that you may learn from the knowledge, virtues and morals of our religion.

I think the community, those who gave cash donations, my community, myself and Romuva deserve an apology. Let’s now move forward and keep the truth out in the open. (We agree that the truth should finally come out and that is why we have made these pages public. However, the apologies need to be made BY Kimo to the Ratas, the taryba, and to the Romuva community for wasting so much of their time with his false claims.)

Uz šviesa už tiesą, tegul būna darną

(Let there be light, let there be truth, let there be harmony)

Vaidila Arbas”