Jiří Paďour OFMCap (4 April 1943 – 11 December 2015) was auxiliary bishop in the

Archdiocese of Prague The Archdiocese of Prague (Praha) (; ) is a Metropolitan Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Bohemia, in the Czech Republic. The cathedral archiepiscopal see is St. Vitus Cathedral, in the Bohemian and Czech capital Prague, entirely sit ...

from 1996 to 2001, and the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

from 2002 to 2014.

Biography

Paďour graduated from the Academy of Performing Arts in 1962, where he majored in acting. In the following years he was engaged at the Theatre on the Balustrade. In 1970 he decided to enroll in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

at St. Cyril and Methodius Theological Faculty in

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

. He was ordained a priest in 1975, followed by two years (before losing state approval of the Communist regime) where he worked as a priest in Marienbad and its surroundings. On 4 October 1978, he secretly entered into the

Capuchin Order The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFMObs, now OFM), the o ...

. Paďour was elected as Provincial of the Capuchin Order twice in 1991 and 1994. On 3 December 1996,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

appointed Paďour as titular bishop and auxiliary bishop of Prague. His consecration was on 11 January 1997. On 23 February 2001 he was appointed coadjutor bishop of the

Diocese of České Budějovice In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

to Bishop Anthony Liska, and Paďour took over the leadership of the diocese on 25 September 2002. On 1 March 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Paďour's resignation for health reasons. He died on 11 December 2015 in

Prachatice Prachatice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monumen ...

References

External links

* 1943 births 2015 deaths People from Ústí nad Orlicí District Bishops of České Budějovice Capuchin bishops 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Czech Republic {{CzechRepublic-RC-bishop-stub