1918 – July 1921). From December 1918, he was also chaplain of the monastery of the Sisters of Saint Casimir and religion teacher at their school. At the same time, he edited the struggling Lithuanian daily Draugas (in February–July 1917 and September 1918 – July 1920) and in 1920 established religious weekly Laivas which continued to be published by the Marian Fathers in Chicago until 1990. He was also a member of the commission that collected a million signatures under a petition to President Warren G. Harding to recognize independent Lithuania. Independent Lithuania In July 1921, Būčys returned to Lithuania. From 1921 to 1923, he was rector of the Church of St. Gertrude in Kaunas, which was transferred to the Marian Fathers in February 1922. Būčys worked on establishing the Faculty of Theology at the newly organized University of Lithuania. He drafted the plan for the faculty and traveled to Rome to have it approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education. He also worked on the university statute. When the university was officially opened in February 1922, Būčys became professor of the fundamental theology. He was dean of the Faculty of Theology (April 1922 – August 1923), university prorector (September 1923 – September 1924), rector (September 1924 – September 1925), and again dean of the Faculty of Theology (September 1925 – September 1926). He helped in organizing and was a board member of the Lithuanian Catholic Academy of Science (he attempted to establish the academy in 1907, but it was organized only in 1922). He organized the transfer of funds raised for a Catholic university to the new academy. He became a true academic member of the academy in 1936. In 1922, he proposed to build a church in Žaliakalnis neighborhood of Kaunas as a monument to Lithuania's independence. The idea was supported by Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas, bishop Juozapas Skvireckas, and others and the construction of the Christ's Resurrection Church started in 1934. He continued to contribute articles to the press: he edited daily Laisvė (Freedom) in 1921 and published articles in Rytas, Lietuva, Šaltinis, Tiesos Kelias, Kosmos. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (2nd class) in 1928. From 1923, Būčys was deputy of Matulaitis-Matulevičius, Superior-General of the Marian Fathers. When Matulaitis-Matulevičius resigned as bishop and was tasked with the negotiation of the Concordat with Lithuania, Bučys was his secretary. In