Browsing by Author "Čačík, Marián"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Item
    Dudová and Duda before the Czech Constitutional Court: The question of autonomy of religious organizations
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2022) Čačík, Marián
    In the Czech Republic, the autonomy of churches is constitutionally guaranteed in a rather broad manner. The constitutional and legal basis for Church autonomy lies in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which is part of the Czech constitutional order. It represents both an objective institutional guarantee (religious neutrality of the state) and the subjective right of religious communities to independence from the state and self-governance of their own affairs (the right to self-determination). Compared to other domains of the said autonomy, the staffing of churches is a relatively frequent subject of theoretical reflection and decision-making on the part of Czech courts. The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic had to express its opinion on some problematic cases, in particular, the limits of Church autonomy. The case of Duda and Dudová is an example of a conflict between civil rights and the autonomy of churches in the modern Czech history. It started with Duda and Dudová’s dismissal from the pastoral ministry in the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in 1993, and the last (so far) decision related to this case was issued by the Constitutional Court in 2021. This article discusses the long and tortuous journey through the Czech judiciary system, which Duda, Dudová, and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church had to go through in order to clarify consequences of church autonomy. A particular deviation in the Supreme Court’s decision-making played an interesting role in this process. However, it was the Constitutional Court, which acted as the guardian of constitutional values (including the internal autonomy of churches), that placed this anomaly in the decision-making of the Supreme Court and, subsequently, general courts back within constitutional limits.
  • Item
    Professor Ignác Antonín Hrdina (1953–2022): Life and work
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2023) Čačík, Marián
    This article is dedicated to the memory of Prof. Ignác Antonín Hrdina, who passed away on 22 April 2022. During the communist period in Czechoslovakia, when he was not permitted to complete his theological studies, he worked a civilian job as a lawyer. At the same time, however, he secretly entered the Premonstratensian Order and was covertly ordained as a priest in Krakow, Poland. What he was prevented from doing in the first part of his life, however, was fully developed after 1989, when he emerged from the underground to continue his spiritual work. He was involved in the renewal of monastic life at Strahov Monastery in Prague, where he served for many years as a parish priest and rector of the basilica. At the same time, he developed his academic career at the Faculty of Theology of the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, the Faculty of Law of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen and the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague. With his passing, the Church in Czech republic and the academic community have lost their leading expert on canon law; however, he did leave behind him a number of specialised publications that will continue to benefit future generations. Niniejszy artykuł jest poświęcony pamięci o. prof. Ignáca Antonína Hrdiny, który zmarł 22 kwietnia 2022 r. W komunistycznej Czechosłowacji nie pozwolono mu ukończyć studiów teologicznych, pracował więc jako prawnik. W tym samym czasie jednak tajnie wstąpił do zakonu norbertanów i potajemnie przyjął święcenia kapłańskie w Krakowie. Działalność duszpasterską rozwinął po 1989 r., kiedy to mógł w pełni ujawnić swoją tożsamość, podejmując służbę, której oddanie uniemożliwiono mu w pierwszej części życia. Uczestniczył w odnowieniu życia monastycznego w klasztorze na Strahowie w Pradze, gdzie przez wiele lat pełnił również funkcję proboszcza i rektora bazyliki. Równolegle rozwijał swoją karierę naukową na Wydziale Teologicznym Uniwersytetu Południowoczeskiego w Czeskich Budziejowicach, Wydziale Prawa Uniwersytetu Zachodnioczeskiego w Pilźnie oraz Katolickim Wydziale Teologicznym Uniwersytetu Karola w Pradze. Po jego śmierci Kościół w Czechach i tamtejsze wspólnoty akademickie straciły czołowego eksperta w dziedzinie prawa kanonicznego. Profesor I. A. Hrdina pozostawił jednak po sobie szereg ważnych publikacji naukowych, z których będą mogły korzystać również przyszłe pokolenia.