The Czechoslovak Hussite Church ( cs, Církev československá husitská, ''CČSH'' or ''CČH'') is a
Christian church that separated from the
Catholic Church after
World War I in former
Czechoslovakia.
Both the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and
Moravian Church trace their tradition back to the
Hussite reformers and acknowledge
Jan Hus (John Huss) as their predecessor.
It was well-supported by Czechoslovakia's first
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
,
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, who himself belonged to the
Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren
The Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren (ECCB) ( cs, Českobratrská církev evangelická; ČCE) is the largest Czech Protestant church and the second-largest church in the Czech Republic after the Catholic Church. It was formed in 1918 in Cze ...
.
The Czechoslovak Hussite Church describes itself as neo-Hussite.
History
Both the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and
Moravian Church trace their tradition back to the
Hussite reformers and acknowledge
Jan Hus (John Huss) as their predecessor.
The forerunner of the CČSH was the Jednota (Union of the Catholic Clergy), which was founded in 1890 to promote
modernist reforms in the Roman Catholic Church, such as use of the vernacular in the liturgy and the adoption of voluntary rather than compulsory clerical celibacy. The radical movement that resulted in the foundation of a new Church began in the Christmas season of 1919, when Christmas masses were celebrated in Czech in many Czechoslovak churches. The CCH was established on January 8, 1920, by Dr.
Karel Farský, who became its first Patriarch and author of its liturgy. It was known until 1971 as the Czechoslovak Church. The head of the church continues to bear the title of
Patriarch.
The church had a working-class membership and supported a socialist economic system in the years leading up to the
1948 Czechoslovak coup
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
.
According to 2021 censuses it has less than 25 000 adherents, mostly in the
Czech Republic and some in
Slovakia. There are 304 congregations divided into five dioceses situated in
Prague,
Plzeň,
Hradec Králové,
Brno
Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republi ...
, and
Olomouc in the Czech Republic and three congregations in the Bratislava Diocese in
Slovakia. There are approximately 266 priests in active ministry, of whom 130 are women. Candidates of ministry are prepared at the Hussite Faculty of Theology at
Charles University
)
, image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg
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, established =
, type = Public, Ancient
, budget = 8.9 billion CZK
, rector = Milena Králíčková
, faculty = 4,057
, administrative_staff = 4,026
, students = 51,438
, underg ...
in Prague.
Doctrine and liturgy
It draws its teachings from the traditional Christianity presented by the
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical p ...
(Patristics), with the first
Seven Ecumenical Councils, the work of
Saints Cyril and Methodius, and the
Protestant Reformation tradition, especially
Utraquist
Utraquism (from the Latin ''sub utraque specie'', meaning "under both kinds") or Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: ''calix'', mug, borrowed from Greek ''kalyx'', shell, husk; Czech: kališníci) was a belief amongst Hussites, a reformist Christia ...
and
Hussite thought.
Like Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, and
Anglo-Catholics
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church recognizes
seven sacraments
There are seven sacraments of the Catholic Church, which according to Catholic theology were instituted by Jesus and entrusted to the Church. Sacraments are visible rites seen as signs and efficacious channels of the grace of God to all those ...
. Like some of the
Lutheran and
Presbyterian churches, it emphasizes the
freedom of conscience
Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints.
Overview
Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...
of individual believers, practices the
ordination of women, and emphasizes the equal participation of the
laity in church leadership. The Hussite Church, as with its sister church, the
Moravian Church, teaches the doctrine of
apostolic succession
Apostolic succession is the method whereby the ministry of the Christian Church is held to be derived from the apostles by a continuous succession, which has usually been associated with a claim that the succession is through a series of bish ...
.
The celebration of the liturgy is the center of worship practice. It used to be two forms, which have much in common with the texts of the
Catholic Mass
The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Chri ...
, but there are also elements of Luther's German Mass and the tradition of the Utraquist mass. Clergy wear a black robe with an embroidered red chalice and a white stole during the service.
There is no
veneration of saints
Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etymo ...
as practiced in the
Apostolic Churches
An apostolic see is an episcopal see whose foundation is attributed to one or more of the apostles of Jesus or to one of their close associates. In Catholicism the phrase, preceded by the definite article and usually capitalized, refers to the ...
, but images of
saints are employed in the church decoration. In the post-1920 period new churches were built, but only a few portraits were considered appropriate to place in them, particularly representations of Christ, and occasionally pictures of Jan Hus.
In the iconography of the church the chalice plays a major role, usually depicted in red, as it was used in the 15th century as a battle standard on the flags of the Hussites. It is found in the church, to the sacerdotal, the bindings of liturgical books, church steeples and church banners.
Demography
After a split from the Catholic Church, amidst the post-war atmosphere of anti-Catholic agitation and euphoria about the Czech independence, the Czechoslovak Church's membership increased rapidly. In the 1921 Czechoslovak census, the first post-war census, 523,232 people claimed to be adherents of this church in what is today the Czech Republic. In 1930, the membership further grew to 779,672. With 7.3% of total population, it became the prevailing religion in several regions of
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohe ...
and to a lesser degree in
Moravia. At the beginning of Communist rule, the 1950 census recorded 946,497 adherents of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. In the following decades there was no official census of religious affiliation in what is today the Czech Republic, although it is apparent that under Communist rule, membership started to collapse.
Relations with other churches
At its beginning, the Hussite Church sought relations with the
Serbian Orthodox Church and the
Old Catholic Church
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...
, and also espoused a tendency to a rationalist and
Unitarian Christian theology, but when adopted its creed in 1958 it was founded on the
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed
The original Nicene Creed (; grc-gre, Σύμβολον τῆς Νικαίας; la, Symbolum Nicaenum) was first adopted at the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In 381, it was amended at the First Council of Constantinople. The amended form is a ...
.
The church is a member of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic, the
Conference of European Churches
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions.
In its commitment to Europe as a who ...
, and the
Leuenberg Community of Churches.
Relations between the church and other members of the ecumenical movement are cordial, but remained strained with the country's Roman Catholic leadership. The first woman to become a bishop of the Czechoslovak Hussite church,
Jana Šilerová, was elected to a seven-year term of office in April 1999. In January 1999, Catholic Archbishop
Miloslav Vlk
Miloslav Vlk (; 17 May 1932 – 18 March 2017) was a Czech prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Prague from 1991 to 2010. He was made a cardinal in 1994. He was also the President of the Council of European Bishops' Co ...
made a public statement of disapproval, warning against election of a woman to this position and saying that it would cause deterioration of ecumenical relations. Following criticism by the Czechoslovak Hussite Church for interfering in its affairs, the Roman Catholic Church distanced itself from the archbishop's remarks and stated that it would exert no pressure against her election. In 2000, Catholic representatives attended the consecration of
Jana Šilerová as the Hussite Church's first woman to become a bishop.
Patriarchs
*
Karel Farský (1924–1927)
*
Gustav Adolf Procházka (1927–1942)
*
František Kovář (1946–1961)
*
Miroslav Novák (1961–1990)
*
Vratislav Štěpánek (1991–1994)
*
Josef Špak (1994–2001)
*
Jan Schwarz (2001–2006)
*
Tomáš Butta (2006–present)
Dioceses
* Prague Diocese (bishop David Tonzar)
* Olomouc Diocese (bishop Tomáš Chytil)
* Plzeň Diocese (bishop Filip Štojdl)
* Hradec Králové Diocese (bishop Pavel Pechanec)
* Brno Diocese (bishop Juraj Jordán Dovala)
* Bratislava Diocese (bishop Jan Hradil)
*
See also
*
Unity of the Brethren (Czech Republic) __NOTOC__
The Unity of the Brethren ( cs, Jednota bratrská) is the province of the Moravian Church in the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, ...
*
Hussite Theological Faculty, Charles University in Prague
References
Bibliography
*
* Nĕmec, Ludvík (1975) ''The Czechoslovak Heresy and Schism: the emergence of a national Czechoslovak church'' American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia,
* Tonzar, David (2002) ''Vznik a vývoj novodobé husitské teologie a Církev československá husitska'' Karolinum, Prague, in Czech
* Urban, Rudolf (1973) ''Die tschechoslowakische hussitische Kirche'' J.G. Herder-Institut, Marburg/Lahn, , in German
External links
Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech RepublicOfficial Website of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church
{{Authority control
Members of the World Council of Churches
Protestantism in the Czech Republic
Hussites