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 let ...
family on 3 June 1870 in
Radomyšl
Radomyšl is a market town in Strakonice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,300 inhabitants.
Administrative parts
Villages of Domanice, Láz, Leskovice, Podolí and Rojice are administrative parts of Radomy ...
, a market town in
Strakonice District
Strakonice District ( cs, okres Strakonice) is a district (''okres'') within South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Strakonice.
List of municipalities
Bavorov -
Bělčice -
Bezdědovice -
Bílsko -
Blatná -
B ...
in
southern Bohemia
The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part ...
. As a boy he wanted to join the priesthood, but soon became disillusioned with the church. At the age of 18 he left Catholicism for the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
church and was ordained a minister.
Čapek traveled widely as a Baptist evangelist, from Saxony in the west to the Ukraine in the east. In Moravia he was influenced by the free Christianity and the Moravian Brotherhood, and his religious convictions became progressively more liberal and anti-clerical. He wrote for and edited a number of journals. His articles on topics ranging from psychology to politics attracted unfavorable attention from the German authorities, and in 1914 he and his wife, Marie, and their eight children fled to the United States.
Unitarianism
In the United States, Norbert became editor of a Czech language newspaper and served as pastor of the First Slovak Baptist Church in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Chomutov in Western Bohemia in 1888 and moved to the U.S. at the age of 19. She was a graduate of the School of Library Science at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and worked in the New York Public Library.
While in the United States, Čapek faced two heresy trials at the accusation of Slovak
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
ministers, in attempts to expel him from the
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
association. Pursuing an increasingly liberal religious perspective, Norbert resigned as a Baptist minister in 1919. Norbert and Maja discovered
Unitarianism
Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
, and in 1921 they joined the First Unitarian Church of Essex County (in
Orange, New Jersey
The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000.
Orange was original ...
). Together, they decided to bring Unitarianism back to their homeland, newly independent after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The couple returned to
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
in 1921.
The new Unitarian congregation they formed in Prague, called the Liberal Religious Fellowship, grew rapidly and soon purchased a large building dubbed "Unitaria" at the foot of
Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...
. The early worship services generally consisted of lectures. The minister wore no robe or vestments; and the congregation dispensed with elaborate rituals, singing of hymns, ornate decoration, and formal or prescribed prayers. Some members felt that the congregation lacked a spiritual dimension. In response, in June 1923 Čapek created the Flower Celebration (aka Flower Communion): each member would bring a flower to the church, where it was placed in a large central vase. At the end of the service, each would take home a different flower. This symbolized the uniqueness of each individual, and the coming together in communion to share this uniqueness.
Maja Capek was ordained as a minister in 1926. With financial help from the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
and the British and Foreign Unitarian Association, Norbert and Maja acquired and renovated a medieval palace for a meeting space. In 1930 the Unitarian Church of Czechoslovakia was officially recognized by the Czech government.
World War II
Although he was invited to return to the United States during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, Čapek chose to remain in Europe. In 1939 Maja went to the US to raise funds for relief efforts in Czechoslovakia; she also served as minister in the North Unitarian Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts from 1940 to 1943. In March 1941, Norbert and his daughter were arrested by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
, who confiscated his books and sermons. He was charged with listening to foreign broadcasts (a capital crime) and, after being held in
Pankrác Prison
Pankrác Prison, officially Prague Pankrác Remand Prison (''Vazební věznice Praha Pankrác'' in Czech), is a prison in Prague, Czech Republic. A part of the Czech Prison Service, it is located southeast of Prague city centre in Pankrác, not ...
, was taken in 1942 to the Dachau concentration camp, where he was imprisoned in the " Priesterblock". He was tortured and eventually gassed late in 1942.
When news of his death reached the United States, the American Unitarian Association president, Fredrick May Eliot, wrote, "Another name is added to the list of heroic Unitarian martyrs, by whose death our freedom has been bought. Ours is now the responsibility to see to it that we stand fast in the liberty so gloriously won."
The
International Association for Religious Freedom
The International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) is a charitable organization that works for religious freedom around the world. It was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1900, and is the oldest international group that promotes dialo ...
placed a plaque in the camp in his memory.
References
Further reading
*Henry, Richard (1999). Norbert Fabian Capek: A Spiritual Journey, Skinner House Books.
*Brown, Andrew, James (2007). The Religious Society of Czech Unitarians (RSCU) and the construction of Czech National Identity. In: Lucia Faltin, Melanie J. Wright (eds), The Religious Roots of Contemporary European Identity, London : Continuum, p. 143-155.