Bez nadpisu

1
Religion and Churches in the CR
Past and Present
2
Why I was appointed to this topic, even if I am
teaching economics and not e.g. philosophy?
Of course there are more people who are religious
or interested in religion at this faculty.
However, as a result of the previous regime,
many of them still somehow keep it as a personal
secret. Because I am an active member of the
Union of Catholic Women CR and was chairing it
for some year, and member of the Christian
Democratic/Union Czechoslovak Peoples Party as
well as of some other Christian NGOs, I am quite
widely known to be a Christian. And as I have
already mentioned, I am also singing in a church
choir for more than 40 years and my choir did a
X-mas concert at the university several years ago
3
What are we going to talk about

• The very beginnings of Czech Christianity
• The person of Jan Hus
• Religious situation in Czechoslovakia in
• the Communist time
• The present situation -
• for better or for worse
• What is the role of churches in the
• todays CR ?

4
863 A.D.
Cyril and Methodius
two learned priests from Thessaloniki, came
first to the Moravian Velehrad, to baptise prince
Svatopluk, and then to baptise also the Bohemian
prince Borivoj and his wife Ludmila
5

They thought it important, that people understood
the new belief, therefore they translated the
Bible into an Old-Slavonic language and gave thus
the country not only Christianity, but also
literacy in their own language.
July 5th is the feast of the Thessaloniki
brothers and therefore Czech national holiday
6
Meeting Days of the Goodwill People at
Velehrad, July 5
7
It was not an easy process, because Bohemia was a
pagan country at that time,
but eventually Christianity won.
8
It was not an easy process, because Bohemia was a
pagan country at that time,
but eventually Christianity won.
9
Musical notation of the song "Hospodine, pomiluj
ny (Lord, Have mercy on us) - one of the
earliest recorded musical notations in the Czech
lands, around 1000 A.D.
10
Jan Hus - a prophet or a heretic

The truth wins

• Some facts
• born probably around 1370 in a Husinec
• several places compete to have been his
  birth-place
• got BA. In 1393, MA. in 1396, ordained in 1400

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• Some more facts
• from 1411 on defending
• the side of John Wicklef
• was an excellent preacher,
• mainly in the Bethlehem
• chapel in Prague
• tended to theological
• disputes
• was an outstanding scholar
• invented the accent signs
• in the Czech writing
• was also music composer
• was appointed rector of the
• Prague University 1402-1403

opuszczony opuštený
c,ž,á
12

• Some more facts
• criticised the Church for its life and wealth
• (namely selling the Church positions and the
  indulgences )
• but himself was not opposed to good food or drink
• After being
• tried by the
• Church council
• as a heretic,
• he died
• at the stake
• on July 6, 1415
• in Konstanz

13
The main part of the problem
was not only religious discrepancies (so-called
remanence), but also political problems. The
archbishop of Prague Zbynek Zajíc of
Haznburg (nicknamed the Alphabet), was more of
a soldier than a scholar (he was said to have
been almost illiterate) and was not able to solve
the theological problems, so he used power and
since Hus opposed him, denounced him to the
Church council
14
Because of it,July 6 is also Czech national
holiday
15
Celebrations in Husinec, 2005
16
What did Hus really look like?
17
After Huss death, the Hussite wars started in
Bohemia, which were first oriented at social
equality and purity of faith, but later on
deteriorated into fighting for power Many
churches, libraries and works of art were
destroyed and the country was in economic chaos
18
The wars ended at the Battle of Bílá Hora ( the
White Mountain ) in 1620, where the Czech and
Moravian protestants lost and afterwards there
started the a gradual re-Catholicisation of the
country under the German rule. Once more, it had
its positive and negative features
19
Many protestant freemen left the country, among
them J.A.Komenský, protestant bishop and great
educationalist, who emigrated to England and then
to the Netherlands, where he died
20
Museum and grave of J.A. Komenský in Naarden
21
The revived religious orders built not only
beautiful churches, but also libraries, schools
and hospitals, supported science and culture
22
Now we have to jump over several centuries..
After the WW I., the origin of the independent
Czechoslovakia brought about a certain amount of
anti-church feelings, since the prevailing
Catholic Church was connected to the
Austro-Hungarian Empire. Also there were several
serious outbreaks of anti-semitism and the
intelligentsia tended to liberal thinking
23
A typical example of antisemitism was the famous
Hilsner case in 1899, revoked in 1910
Leopold Hilsner
The town of Polná, 1890
24
Czechoslovak Hussite Church
has been established in January 1920, as the
reflection on national freedom. It started as a
criticism towards Catholic Church, the liberal
priests asked for religious ceremonies in Czech,
abolishment of priests celibate, women ministers
and some other changes. Having been refused, they
founded a new national church. Since 1947, they
have women as ministers (since 1999, the first
women was appointed bishops )
25
There used to stand the Plague Column

?
It was destroyed in 1918 by Czech nationalist
with the help of Prague firemen
26
The organisers also planned to throw down the
statues of saints from the Charles Bridge , but
fortunately were stopped in time
27
Nevertheless, Czechoslovakia still was the
country of strong Christian and mostly Catholic
traditions ...
namely in the rural areas . ..the more so in
Moravia and Slovakia..
28
As early as in 1949, the Communist movement
against religion started by passing special
Church Acts
As the act of open hostility, all the 12 bishops
and numbers outstanding priests and monastery
abbots, who were not willing to support the new
regime, were arrested in 1949-1951, led by the
archbishop of Prague Josef Beran. They were kept
first in prison, later on in special
concentration camps, namely in Želiv in the
South-East Bohemia, where they worked in
stone-quarries, farms or cleaned lavatories in
T.U. recreation hotels. Most of them were
released only at the beginning of 60ies, but
were not allowed to act as priests.
29
In June 1949, the archbishop of Prague Josef
Beran wrote a letter to the communist government
protesting against violation of the constitution
with regard to church. As a result, he was
confined in different places till 1965. Then he
was allowed to leave for Rome (he was appointed a
cardinal then), under the condition that he would
never come back. He died in Rome in 1980 and is
buried in St. Petrus cathedral.
30

• The situation can be looked at from viewpoint of
• priests
• religious orders
• ordinary believers
• general public
• church buildings

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.position of priests.

• Special state permission for a given place, lost
  in case of violation of the the State control
  over churches
• Limited numbers of theology students, faculties
  etc.
• Most of the time only 1-2 bishops for the whole
  country
• Open terror in the 50ies ( political processes,
  imprisonments )
• Very low state-granted salaries
• Often moved from one place to another
• Persuaded or pushed to collaboration through the
  pro-regime organisation Pacem in Terris
• Personal isolation, incessant control and
  following, meeting in groups or work with
  children punished
• But in the 80ies, new priests were ordained in
  secret

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. position of religious orders.

• At the beginning of 1951, all monasteries
  abolished, monks and priests taken away in the
  middle of night, put to concentration camps, all
  property taken (partly destroyed)
• After the release, got the worst manual jobs
  elsewhere, prohibited to live together
• Nuns also turned out, at first left in
  hospitals, later only in mental asylums, with
  handicapped children and in old priests homes
• Satirised in films and literature, if emerging
  at all
• All religious orders prohibited to take any new
  applicants, supposed to die out
• But in the 70ies and 80ies, numbers of young
  people entered secretly

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situation of the ordinary believers...

• According to the Constitution, a complete freedom
  of religion
• In practice, noted in everyones personal
  dossier and taken into consideration with regard
  to study, jobs, travelling
• More outstanding people followed and sometimes
  arrested
• Lessons on religion at schools limited, children
  registered
• Children at schools educated in pointed atheism
• Christian feasts, like Christmas, changed to
  secular ones (Grandpa Frost from the S.U.) or
  suppressed (Easter, Lent)
• Even things like Christmas carols prohibited in
  wireless or TV, if they mentioned Jesus or Mary
  or Bethlehem

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situation of the ordinary believers...

• No public religious ceremonies allowed (Corpus
  Christi processions, pilgrim processions, first
  communions etc) , difficulties with a wedding in
  church etc.
• Practically no religious books published, secret
  samizdat or import of them punished
• All visits from the capitalists and
  imperialists registered and controlled, had to
  be announced at the job
• But It kept people very much together, because
  there were no register believers.
• Underground activities were growing, there was
  high feeling of solidarity.

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attitude of the general public...

• ? It was probably one the greatest successes of
  the Communist propaganda most people did not
  mind much.
• It was so much easier not to think about
  omniscient God, ones sins, or even hell.
• The result
• Several generations practically without any
  education regarding Christianity, people who
  entered church only as tourists, never read the
  Bible, never knowingly met a priest..
• Unfortunately, several generations also without
  the Christian moral code.

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The general idea Religion is something
rather funny and obsolete, but also dangerous
for ones future and good only for old people.
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Church buildings

• Theoretically still owned by the church
• (not monasteries, schools, economic
  buildings)
• Practically, the state decided about them
• Outside big cities, practically no repairs
• In Western border areas, many destroyed by the
  army or let falling down
• No new churches built
• Some show-window cases ( church in Most etc.)

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Church buildings

• Gothic Virgin Mary Assumption Church built by
  Jakub Heilmann of Schweinfurt that was cut from
  the foundations and transferred. The transfer
  took place between l3th September and 27th
  October 1975 during which time the church
  travelled 841.1 metres along a curved trajectory
  at a speed of 2.16 cm per minute. The church and
  the 12,000 ton supporting steel frame were
  supported by 53 hydraulic carriages that
  equalised every unevenness of the ground within a
  tolerance range of 1 mm. But it took another 13
  years to finish the installation and
  stabilisation of the structure and to restore the
  church to its previous beauty. The church was
  re-opened to public as a cultural memorial and
  the original furniture-altar, organ, etc. were
  not returned until after 1989. The re-opening for
  religious services and consecration took place in
  1993

41
Built 1841
1990 re-building started
1973 torn down
1955 use forbidden
Pilgrim church Maria Hilf Zlaté Hory
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.by the end of the 80ies...
The Church, namely Catholic Church, become the
symbol of the protest against Communism. Every
Church event was a sort of manifestation. Partly
it was represented by the person of the
cardinal and archbishop ofPrague,
František Tomášek.
43
Things culminated in November 1989, when Agnes of
Bohemia was canonised in Rome, where almost 4000
Czech pilgrims came by special buses and trains.
The ceremony was broadcast by Czech TV and the
event was perceived as a sign of better times
44
The situation after the Velvet Revolution

• Positive moments
• freedom of religious beliefs, churches and
  denominations
• opportunity of different activities
• reinstated religious orders
• church schools, hospitals
• renewed contacts with world churches and church
  organisations
• developing ecumenism
• growing need of spiritual experience among young
  people
• a number of new churches built

45
Very important

• for religious life and situation
• in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic were three
  visits of the late pope John Paul II.
• in 1990, 1995 and 1997

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By the way, the story of that new church is quite
typical.

• In 1924, when that part of Prague ( Strašnice)
  became to grow, a Society for Building the Church
  was founded, in 1930 a building plot was donated
  by the local landlord and the parish started to
  collect money. They first decided to build a
  parish house with a chapel, which was finished in
  1930
• Further activities were stopped by the war
• After the war, they started planning again but
  lost all money in the currency reform in 1952
• They lost also the remaining plot in the sixties
  expropriated by the state, but fortunately it was
  made a public park
• The parish started renewed activities in 1968,
  but was not quick enough
• In 1992, new church was started with the help of
  an Austrian diocese, finished in 1994. There were
  new buildings all around at that time, but
  miraculously the free space had still been left

47
1934(project)
1994
48
New church and Community Centre of Mother Theresa
of Calcutta in the suburb of Prague (the Southern
Town)
49
It was opened on May 26, 2007, the church was
full. It is still full on Sundays
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The situation after the Velvet Revolution

• Problems
• still unsettled relationships with the state
• unsolved property claims and financing of
  churches, many church buildings dilapidated
• numerous robberies in churches
• growing move towards the consumption society
• lack of priests and ministers
• feeling of a partly lost credit of traditional
  churches
• spreading of different religious movements, some
  of them sects

52
Average age of Catholic priests in the Prague
diocesis is 65
53
Only 3 new priests were ordained for the same
diocesis in 2006, 4 in 2007, 3 in 2008 (all of
them Polish) and just 1 this year
54
In total, there were 42 new priests ordained in
the whole CR last year, 14 in Czech and 28 in
Moravian dioceses
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In the CR, churhes and religious congregations
have got to be registered according to the law.
At present, there are 25 registered churches and
denominations

• Apostolic Church
• Baptist Curch
• Adventists of the Seventh Day
• Brethren Church
• Czechoslovak Hussite Church
• Mormon Church in the CR
• Living God Church
• Greek Catholic Church
• Roman Catholic Church
• Czech Brethren Evangelic Church
• Evangelic Church of Ausburg Creed
• Methodist Church

• Union of Baptists
• Christian Communities Lutheran Evangelic Church
• New Apostolic Church
• Eastern Orthodox Church
• Russian Orthodox Church
• Salesian Evangelic Church of Ausburg Creed
• Old Catholic Church
• Church of Christian Communities
• Community of Christians
• Religious Community of Unitarians
• Jehova Witnesses
• Jewish Community

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Structure of denominations
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Structure of denominations
Structure of population according to
denominations in 1950, 1991 and 2001
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As the country opened to the outside, there
emerged many philosophical and religious
movements and groups, some of which are,
according to European understanding, regarded as
sects
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Jehova Witnesses
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We have got even Mormons from the U.S.
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Islamic Foundation in Prague - Prague Mosque
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Data according to the CENSUS
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Age structure of believers
Age structure of believers in the CR (2001)
Structure of population according to
denominations in 1950
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Age and gender structure of believers
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Shares of believers in regions
Moravian
Czech
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Financing of churches in the CR

• All registered churches are financed by the
  state, problems with wages of priests and
  ministers, repairs and maintenance
• Self-financing is discussed since the 90ies
• Problems
• restitution of church property still not
  resolved (estimated at 100 bill.CZK)
• proposal of settlement prepared but opposed in
  the Parliament
• low private contributions
• attitude of the state not much changing
• Attitude of the public rather schizophrenic

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1-Wages of priests, 2-Insurance, 3-Other wages,
4-Taxes, 5-Overhead costs,6-Church buildings,
7-Cultural activities, 8-Investments
68
Attitudes of young peopleare especially
interesting, because most of themnever met with
much (or any)education regarding religions,
Bible, etc. - neither at school, nor in the
family
69
1-believes, 2-admits, 3-does not believe
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1- never read, 2-seldom read, 3-often read
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1-in detail, 2-roughly, 3-nothing
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Our students talked to a living monk for the
first time in their lives
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Where lays the role of churches in the present
Czech Republic ? To shut into themselves or to go
out and offer a different solution ?
74
Religious ceremony in the streets of Prague 2
weeks ago
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The Pilgrimage of Our Little Mothers in
Úmyslovice, 2009
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So some churches are still full on Sundays
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some are opened once a month or never
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Ecumenical cooperationoikoumene common house
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Where lays the role of churches in the present
Czech Republic ?
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Hospices, hospitals, Peaceful Seniors Homes
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Where do we go ?
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Any questions ?