[3] Vanags studied at Liepaja 5th High School (1965–1976), the Latvian State University Chemistry Department (1976–1982), and the Lutheran Theological Seminar (1984–1989).

He was appointed by the Synod to lead the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia in 1993, following the death of Kārlis Gailītis, the previous archbishop, in a car crash.

[citation needed] Through a statement by Mara Grigola, secretary to Vanags, he accused Sants of expressing in public "information that is against Lutheran doctrine".

[citation needed] Sants told AFP that his dismissal came without warning, following an interview he gave with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in which he discussed his own homosexuality.

[citation needed] Vanags contributed an essay to the 2002 anti-homosexuality book Homoseksuālisms - cilvēces negods un posts,[6] edited by Aivars Garda, the founder of the ultranationalist Latvian National Front.