Josef Beran
Josef Cardinal Beran (born December 29, 1888 in Pilsen , Bohemia , † May 17, 1969 in Rome ) was Archbishop of Prague .
Life
Professor of Theology
After graduating from university, Josef Beran studied in Pilsen and then at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, the subjects of Catholic theology and philosophy . On June 10, 1911, he was ordained a priest in Rome . After his return he worked as a chaplain in the Archdiocese of Prague. From 1917 he taught religious education at the teaching institute of the Congregation of School Sisters of St. Anna in Prague. From 1929 he taught pastoral theology at the archbishop's seminary in Prague, of which he became reign in 1932. The theological faculty of Charles University appointed him professor.
Prisoner in concentration camps
After the assassination attempt on Reinhard Heydrich , Josef Beran was arrested as a hostage by the Nazis in June 1942 , initially in the Pankrác prison in Prague and then in the Theresienstadt and Dachau concentration camps. After the end of the war, he returned to the Prague seminary, where he was again employed as a Regens.
In the Dachau concentration camp , Josef Beran met the Pallottine Father Richard Henkes SAC, who died there while caring for Czechs suffering from typhoid. The Czech Bishops' Conference was unanimous in 2000 for the beatification of the two Nazi victims as role models Czech-German reconciliation from.
Archbishop of Prague
After the Prague Archbishop's chair had been vacant since 1941, Pope Pius XII appointed. Josef Beran became Archbishop of Prague on November 4, 1946. The episcopal ordination donated him on December 8, 1946, the then Apostolic Nuncio of Czechoslovakia, Archbishop Saverio Ritter ; Co- consecrators were Mořic Pícha , Bishop of Hradec Králové , and Anton Eltschkner , Auxiliary Bishop in Prague.
After the overthrow of bourgeois democracy in February 1948 and the takeover of Czechoslovakia by the Communists , the new regime steered a repressive course against the Catholic Church. Catholic publications were banned, Catholic publishers confiscated, and Catholic schools closed. The Vatican was declared an enemy and the Nuncio was expelled from Prague.
Beran criticized the anti-church measures of the new government. This intended, with the so-called Catholic Action , to convert the Catholic Church into a national church separated from Rome. The archbishop issued a pastoral letter in which he refused to submit the church to the communist regime. After criticizing the anti-church measures the day before in the Strahov Abbey Church, he was arrested on June 19, 1949 and isolated from his surroundings. In October 1949 the regime set up a state church office with which the entire church life should be monitored and controlled. In 1950 all religious were sent to concentration monasteries or re-education camps, accused of espionage and activities for the Vatican. Beran was initially under house arrest in the Archbishop's Palace. From 1950 to 1963 he lived under house arrest in constantly changing, secret locations. He himself never knew where he was and was not even allowed to read the communist press. Even after his official release in 1963, he was not allowed to return to Prague. He was also under observation by the state security authorities.
exile
After Josef Beran in 1965 by Pope Paul VI. was appointed cardinal priest with the titular church of Santa Croce in via Flaminia in the college of cardinals , the Vatican diplomacy managed to get Beran's departure to Rome. He was then expelled from the country by the Czechoslovak government under Antonín Novotný . A return was no longer possible.
In Rome, Josef Beran took part in the last session of the Second Vatican Council . There he gave a noteworthy speech on freedom of conscience and religion for all creeds. In Rome he founded the “Czech Religious Center Velehrad ”. Out of concern for the faithful entrusted to him, he had offered the Pope several times to resign, but the Pope always refused. In 1965 the Pope appointed František Tomášek , who was secretly ordained bishop in 1949, as administrator of the Archdiocese of Prague.
Even during the Prague Spring , Beran's hope of returning to Prague was not fulfilled. After Jan Palach's self-immolation in January 1969, Vatican Radio broadcast a speech by Beran in which he addressed his home country.
Death and burial
Josef Beran died in Rome on May 17, 1969. The communist government of Czechoslovakia did not allow the repatriation of his body to his homeland. Pope Paul VI showed him an extraordinary honor, which otherwise belongs only to popes: Josef Beran was in a crypt of St. Peter's Basilica buried. Josef Beran himself had stated in his will that he wanted to be buried in his native Pilsen or in Prague. In April 2018 his remains were transferred from Rome to Prague and buried in St. Vitus Cathedral on April 23, 2018 .
Czechs and Germans
Beran suffered from two totalitarian regimes. For a long time there was an aversion among the Germans expelled from their Bohemian-Moravian-Silesian homeland. At a colloquium in Prague, which was also attended by representatives of the Ackermann community , the latest research revealed the archbishop's proximity to the displaced persons in 2018. He is said to have prayed every day for his “Czech and German compatriots”.
Beatification process
Because of his piety, his love of the country and his commitment to peace and justice, a beatification process for Josef Beran was opened on April 2, 1999 .
literature
- Wolfgang Knauft: The Archbishop of Prague Josef Beran was arrested 50 years ago. In: Catholic Church Newspaper for the Archdiocese of Berlin , No. 23, 1999.
Web links
- Literature and other media by and about Josef Beran in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic
- Beran, Josef. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed December 22, 2016.
- Entry on Josef Beran on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on December 22, 2016.
- Newspaper article about Josef Beran in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Footnotes
- ^ Hans-Jörg Schmidt: Homecoming for Cardinal Beran . Catholic News Agency , Information Service, December 20, 2017.
- ↑ New look at Cardinal Beran , homepage of the Ackermann congregation ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 27, 2018
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Karel Cardinal Kašpar |
Archbishop of Prague 1946–1969 |
František Cardinal Tomášek |
Anton Brus von Müglitz | Martin Medek von Müglitz | Zbynko Berka by Duba and Leipa | Karl Freiherr von Lamberg | Johann Lohelius | Ernst Adalbert Count of Harrach zu Rohrau | Johann Wilhelm Libštejnský von Kolowrat | Matthäus Ferdinand Sobek von Bilenberg | Johann Friedrich von Waldstein | Johann Joseph Count Breuner von Asparn | Franz Ferdinand von Kuenburg | Daniel Joseph Mayer von Mayern | Johann Adam Wratislaw von Mitrowitz (died before the papal confirmation) | Johann Moritz Gustav von Manderscheid-Blankenheim | Anton Peter Count Příchowský von Příchowitz | Wilhelm Florentin von Salm-Salm | Wenceslaus Leopold Chlumčanský from Přestavlk | Alois Josef Count Krakovský von Kolowrat | Andreas Alois Ankwicz from Skarbek-Poslawice | Alois Joseph Schrenck von Notzing | Friedrich Joseph Prince of Schwarzenberg | Franz de Paula Count von Schönborn | Leo Skrbenský from Hříště | Paul Count Huyn | František Kordač | Karel Kašpar Boromejský | Vacancy 1941–1946 | Josef Beran | Vacancy 1969–1977 | František Tomášek | Miloslav Vlk | Dominik Duka
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Beran, Josef |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Beran, Josef Cardinal (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Czechoslovak clergyman, Archbishop of Prague and Cardinal |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 29, 1888 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pilsen , Bohemia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th May 1969 |
| Place of death | Rome |