http://www.paxromana.org/node/257

The situation of the Czech catholic church 15 years after the "velvet
revolution"

English | Woman's Vision

PhDr. Markéta Koronthályová

After 40 years of communist totalitarian system, which ended in 1989
by so called "velvet revolution", had the churches in our country,
Czechoslovak Republic,a very high credit, many people trusted to them.

In the time of this totalitarian system was life in paradox some way
more simply, it was black and white. And all the churches have stood
common in one line, in the opposite against communists. They were
something like a sign of the resistance.

Many people felt sympathy to the churches and to faith without
thinking deeply about, what does it mean. They wanted to be against
the system, against the state and government.

All the Christian churches were oppressed (especially the Catholic
Church, of course) and this pressure joined us to the cooperation,
which made a very good basis for ecumenical work, f. e. the ecumenical
translation of Bible, which was officially allowed by the state. We
had one common enemy and therefore we tried to find what is common in
our Christian religion rather than to point out what is different,
what divides us. Here are probably the roots of very good ecumenical
relations between the churches in our country.

The velvet revolution constituted for all of us areally big change.
First of all the churches received freedom, which they could not
imagine before: we could do in public all this, what we had to do in
secret: spiritual exercises, pilgrimage, meetings of young people -
and finally: the pope, the head of Catholic Church came to visit our
country: it was something like a dream!!

But our new government took care at first about material things, not
the spiritual ones, and it was a big disappointment: it had only one
big goal - to have so good economy and to be so rich like the states
in the Western Europe! First is economy, than we will have time to
speak about morality. Churches tried to explain, that the way (action,
consecution) ought to be quite reverse: at first to build moral and
ethics in relations, because this is the condition of good economical
transformation of the country. But this was something, what society
did not want to hear: speaking about postulates (requirements), which
are joined with the faith, with the life of people believing in
Christ, was not very popular.

People wanted to be rich and to live in luxury immediately without any
postulates. We must understand, that our country is one of the most
atheistic countries in Europe (the first one is Albania, we are in the
second position together with Eastern Germany) and Europe is the most
atheistic continent in the world.

It has own deep historical roots, of course, but our contemporary
situation is the result of 40 years of atheistic education at schools.
Several generations have heard that religion is opium of men and all
the churches, especially the Catholic Church like an institution, are
something very bad.

Therefore when we opened the discussion about the property of
churches, it became a really big problem, which was not resolved until
now.

All the church properties were communized at 1948 and priests became
the civil servants of communist state. The communist ideology
supposed, that during 20 years all believers will be dead and there
will be no more any church, indeed. Fortunately this was only
proposal, but not reality.

But now, after the revolution, the churches needed their property
back, because they wanted to work not only like empty institutions,
but to have schools, hospitals, the centres of charity and social work
and so they could show to the unbelieving people, what is the real way
of life of the churches in society. It was quite impossible without
the property.

The parliament had made such particular law: some main objects were
during so called restitution given back to the churches, but most of
them remained in the hands of the state. So the normal work of
churches could not start as we wanted and the churches have lost their
credit, which they had in the end of totality, in the time of "velvet
revolution".

Our situation was worse and worse, but it was not only problem of
property and finances.

Now I will speak about the situation of my catholic church, in my
country, Czech Republic, after the division Czechoslovakia into two
subjects: Czech Republic and Slovak Republic.

In the end of totalitarian system, at 1987, the Catholic Church
started so called "Program of spiritual renovation of our nation",
because we felt that after so many years of destruction we need it
very much. First Czech Republic, founded at 1918 in the ruins of
Austrian Monarchy, was full of liberalism and the main idea "Far from
the Rome" guided to the foundation of Czech national Church called
Hussite church. Than the Second World War meant for our nation real
slavery of Nazism and German, and after a few years we went on with
the slavery of communism and Russian.

The group of catholic intellectuals around cardinal Tomášek have
prepared a perfect plan of pilgrimages, lectures and meetings for next
ten years, which ought to be finished with the celebration of
millennium of the death of our first Czech bishop and martyr, saint
Vojtěch (Adalbertus). Every year in these ten years had as a patron
one saint person from our catholic heaven and a concrete theme joined
with practical life of the church in contemporary society. This
program was accepted also by our brothers and sisters from other
Christian churches, because they have seen it's actually need for us
all.

The themes were for example:

The doctors and medics and the care (service to the) about ill and
suffering people - St. Agnes of Bohemia

The faith in modern world - all the defenders (advocates) of faith

The family life (St. Zdislava and all the Christian married couples)

ducation and erudition, the tradition and dialog between generations
(St. Ludmila)

The work and our responsibility to the society (St. Wenceslaus) etc.

You can see that the themes are very actual and very important for the
life of the whole society. But unfortunately the decade was not
finished with so big attention of the whole nation, as it started,
because the velvet revolution and the freedom came.

Many people said it was the miraculous help of the patron of the first
year of this decade, St. Agnes, which was in the autumn 1989 affirmed
in Rome as a Saint.

But till now I am persuaded, that it was big damage (detriment) for us
all we could not fill in all the points of this well prepared program
of spiritual renovation. We feel now entails of this in our new, so
called post modern society, in this new capitalism built on wrong
basis of bad human relations.

So we received at 1989 this big gift, freedom, and we were not
prepared.

At the beginning there was big hunger after the spiritual values in
the society, but when the people did not find in our church something,
what would be addressed to them, they turned instead out to another
place, f. e. to the eastern spiritualities, like Buddhism or other
sects etc.

Our catholic church was not united in the opinion, how to go on. One
part wanted in this new freedom to go back to the position we have
lost 50 years ago and to do everything by the same way as it was done
before the communists have destroyed it.

Another part said: we must respond to the contemporary questions -
read the signs of our time, this is the appeal of the 2nd Vatican
council! But it means to try new thinks and risk, to do something,
what we have not done before. The difference between these two
opinions grew up more and more and now we can say there are two parts
of scissors, opening more and more: the so called progressive and
conservative.

Because of communist totalitarian system we had no possibilities to
study the documents of 2nd Vatican and to translate them or press and
public. In other countries of Western Europe the theologian had
occasion to read, to discuss and try to find the ways how to realise
them in the conditions of their own countries. Here (and in other
parts of Eastern Europe) we could do it only in secret, it was
prohibited and therefore dangerous. So only some people have done it
(both of priests and lay people). Now the question was: shall we start
with publication of 2nd Vatican documents and to study them and
discuss with all the people, or to public directly the results of our
own secret studies from the past and offer them to the public?

Most of the members of our church till now do not know anything about
the common priesthood of Christian people, lay people. They want only
to fill on their religious duty, they come to the church only on
Sundays or on the Feasts and do not understand, why they ought to do
anything more. This is my own experience from my parish - last 15
years we are trying to move the parish on, to bring in some
initiative, but there are always the same people coming for meetings,
lectures, trips, ecumenical worships, to prepare meals for agape etc.
The other 600 members of our parish family visit only the Sunday's
holy mass.

There is an actual question in our Catholic Church now about the big
role of lay people and importance of the evangelization in the
atheistic society, but it is not clear, how to realize it. Lay people
could not study theology before the revolution, and then only slowly
the theological faculties opened their doors to lay students (in
Prague it is possible only last 3 years). We must consider also an
importance of different role of man and women in the Catholic Church.
The women can study theology, but they cannot be ordained for any
service in the church.

In this situation our catholic church has declared the Plenary
assembly, which ought to be something like continuation of the decade
of spiritual renovation and ought to help us to find the way, how to
go on in this new situation of freedom and democracy, how to realize
the principles of 2nd Vatican in our country.

The preparation of this plenary assembly started at 1997 and many
small working groups in parishes were initiated. They started to
discuss some actual questions and sent the results to the bishops'
conference, but later the moving took another direction: the bishops
have sent instructions, what we have to discuss and the initiative of
lay people was restricted.

The Plenary assembly had two sessions: at 2003 and 2005. We were a
little sad from the results: the final material for the last session
was not very concrete. The results of assembly were secret and they
were sent to Rome, where they are waiting for the approbation.

As to the role of women: there was no one word about it in the
materials. We as Union of catholic women have sent there (although we
were not asked for the cooperation and we had no delegate in this
assembly) one short paragraph to the article about role of lay people
in the church declaring the specific gifts of women, our differences
from the men roles and possibilities, according to the last church
documents (f.e. the letter to the bishops about the role of women in
the church and society from 2004). We do not know, which parts from it
were accepted, because the final material is secret until it will be
appropriated from Rome.

And which is our situation now?

We as catholic women are working in our Union of catholic women, which
has about 600 members in all the Czech Republic. The main branches are
in Praha, Brno, České Budějovice, Ostrava and Boskovice. We try to
find again the true identity of women in the light of Gospel, to help
women in their concrete problems of daily life (advice, consult), to
discuss role of women in the church and society in the light of church
documents, to find our spirituality of women. This year we started the
lectures on this last theme.

On February we will have our annual Plenary session on the theme Women
bringing the peace everywhere (Mt 5, 9).

We also work together with the women from other Christian churches in
the Ecumenical forum of Christian Women in ÄŒR: we have meetings with
sharing our experiences; we have common prayers (f.e. the World day of
prayers or the Week of prayers for Unity of Christians).

We have quite a strange position now: When we want to say something to
an actual problem, f.e. against the reality show or homosexual
partnership or some billboards with neck women or girls, our society,
media etc. say we are very conservative. When we say something in the
church: we ask for the role of women or how we can bring in our
special gifts into the relations in our church, how we can be active
as lay persons - women etc. - we are considered to be very progressive
or liberal.

So we try to live in it and find out our own place in the church and
society here and now.

We seek to hear the Holy Spirit, keep open our hearts and be able to
hear every challenge for life in humility, charity and service to the
people around us: in the family, in the parish, in our working place,
in our town and state.

We know we must give Him a chance and time to find a way, how we can
realize our gifts, which we received from God as women and which are
so necessary for this world, especially now in our times.