Jan Baxant (born 8 October 1948) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop, being the leader of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Litoměřice The Roman Catholic Diocese of Litoměřice la, Litomericen(sis) is a diocese located in the city of Litoměřice in the Ecclesiastical province of Prague in the Czech Republic. History * July 3, 1655: Established as Diocese of Litoměřice fro ...

since 2008.

Biography

Early life

Baxant was born in a large Catholic family and has five siblings, two sisters and three brothers. Two of his siblings have also joined consecrated life, his brother Pavel is a Catholic priest and his sister Marie is a nun. He graduated from the Secondary Technical School of Surveying in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and later from the Cyril and Methodius Theological Faculty in

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; german: Leitmeritz) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat ...

. He was ordained priest on 23 June 1973 by

František Tomášek František Tomášek (30 June 1899, in Studénka, Moravia – 4 August 1992, in Prague, Czechoslovakia) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia, the 34th Archbishop of Prague, and a Roman Catholic theologian. His "cautious but ...

. In addition to

, Baxant speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Priestly ministry

Baxant was a parish vicar in

Kolín Kolín (; german: Kolin, Neu Kolin, Collin) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 32,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. Administra ...

from 1973 to 1975, he then served as administrator of the parish of Bystřice from 1975 to 1983, and then the parish at the Church of Sts. Antonín Paduánský in

Holešovice Holešovice () is a district in the north of Prague situated on a meander of the River Vltava, which makes up the main part of the district Prague 7 (an insignificant part belongs to Prague 1). In the past it was a heavily industrial suburb; ...

from 1983 to 1990. In 1990 he became Vice-Rector, and in 1993 Rector, of the Archbishop's Seminary in Prague. On 1 January 2003 he became vicar general of the diocese of

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; german: Budweis ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 93,000 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is t ...

Ordination as bishop

On 4 October 2008,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

appointed him the seat of bishop of the diocese of Litoměřice. He received the episcopal consecration at the hands of Cardinal

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' Con ...

at the St. Stephen's Cathedral in

on 22 November 2008. The Apostolic Nuncio to the Czech Republic,

Diego Causero Diego Causero (born 13 January 1940) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. From 1992 to 2015, he served as the head of the Vatican's diplomatic mission in several African a ...

, and the Bishop of

Jiří Paďour Jiří Paďour OFMCap (4 April 1943 – 11 December 2015) was auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Prague from 1996 to 2001, and the Bishop of České Budějovice from 2002–2014. Biography Paďour graduated from the Academy of Performing A ...

O.F.M. Cap. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

, served as the co-consecratos. Baxant chose his bishop's motto as the Latin phrase "Ut videam", meaning "let me see". The chosen bishop's coat of arms is a quartered shield and combines his personal coat of arms (golden sun in the second and third blue fields) and the diocesan coat of arms (red quartered heraldic cross in the first and the fourth blue field).

Life as Bishop

Baxant is considered a conservative bishop and for a time was frequently referred to as one of the serious candidates for to become Archbishop of Prague after the retirement of Archbishop Vlk. On 25 April 2009 Baxant celebrated the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

while attending a pilgrimage to honor

St. Vojtech Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, Vo ...

Litoměřice District Litoměřice District ( cs, okres Litoměřice) is one of seven districts ('' okres'') located within the Ústí nad Labem Region in the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Litoměřice. List of municipalities Bechlín - Bohušovice nad O ...

. The mass has been requested by the local spiritual administrator Jan Radim Valík OSB to be according to the missal of 1962. In the 40 years since Vatican II Baxant became the first Czech bishop to officially celebrate mass according to the pre-

Vatican II The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and 1 ...

tradition. Since then Baxant has periodically celebrated mass in the Tridentine form. On 12 April 2017 Baxant was hospitalized with a heart attack. He was temporary replaced by the emeritus auxiliary bishop of Prague,

Karel Herbst Karel Herbst (born 6 November 1943, in Prague) is an emeritus auxiliary bishop of Prague, a titular bishop of Siccesi and Salesian. In the 1980s, he was the main organizer of the Salesian huts, holiday events for children in the Catholic undergro ...

. By 1 June 2017 Baxant had resumed his role of bishop after recovering from the heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxant, Jan 1948 births Living people People from Karlovy Vary 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Czech Republic