Alfonsas Petrulis

Alfonsas Konstantinas Petrulis (pronunciation^ⓘ; 4 August 1873 – 28 June 1928) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and one of the twenty signatories of the Act of Independence of Lithuania.

Petrulis attended priest seminaries in Kaunas and Vilnius. Due to poor health, he did not complete his studies at the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy. He was ordained in 1899 and served as parish priest in nine different parishes of the Diocese of Vilnius and later the Diocese of Kaišiadorys. His longest tenure was 16 years spent in Pivašiūnai (1911–1927).

At the time, there were increasing tensions between Lithuanians and Poles and such frequent reassignments were likely caused by Petrulis pro-Lithuanian activities – he sought to deliver masses and sermons in Lithuanian, organize church choirs, established local chapters of Lithuanian societies, etc. This brought him into conflict with Polish activists. In 1909, Petrulis became a member of the five-member commission established by the diocese administrator Kazimierz Mikołaj Michalkiewicz to mediate local disputes between Lithuanians and Poles. In 1911, Petrulis became one of the co-founder of the biweekly Lithuanian newspaper Aušra which promoted the Lithuanian language, particularly in churches, among Lithuanians in Vilnius Region. Petrulis became one of the co-founders and board members of the Lithuanian Education Society Rytas in 1913.

In September 1917, he was elected by the Vilnius Conference to the 20-member Council of Lithuania which adopted the Act of Independence on 16 February 1918. He traveled twice to Switzerland to attend the Lithuanian conferences in Bern and Laussane. Petrulis became involved with the Party of National Progress and campaigned in the April 1920 election to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania. However, the party won no seats and Petrulis retired from political life. He returned to pastoral duties until his death in 1928.