CZECH CARDINAL DISCUSSES POPE'S VISIT AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 000465

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL EZ
SUBJECT: CZECH CARDINAL DISCUSSES POPE'S VISIT AND
RELATIONS WITH THE CZECH GOVERNMENT

REF: PRAGUE DAILY JULY 30

PRAGUE 00000465 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Mary Thompson-Jones for reason 1.4 (b)
and (d)

(C) 1. Summary. Cardinal Miloslav Vlk chatted privately with
the Charge about the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI and
the Catholic Church's relations with the Czech Government.
He explained that the Pope's planned visit at the end of
September had nothing to do with the Czech Parliament
elections on October 9 - 10. The visit was scheduled long
before the fall of Mirek Topolanek's government in March and
was planned around a religious celebration. The Catholic
Church's relations with the Czech Government were never
strong and the Cardinal said President Klaus is particularly
opposed to the church having any financial or political clout
in the Czech Republic. The Cardinal was not sanguine that
the church restitution issue would be resolved anytime soon,
and he said one reason for the Pope's visit is to discuss
restitution and the difficult position of the Catholic Church
in the Czech Republic. End Summary.

--------------
Far Away From Klaus
--------------


2. (C) Czech Cardinal Miloslav Vlk met with Charge d'Affaires
on August 8, 2009 and provided useful context in
understanding the Catholic Church's position in the Czech
Republic. He explained that there is a negative perception
of the church that dates back to the fall of the Hapsburg
Empire, when the Catholic Church was viewed as having
cooperated with the Hapsburgs. From this perception came a
slogan in the First Republic ("Far away from Vienna, far away
from Rome") which captured the predominate opinion of the
time that the church had followed the empire. Because the
intellectual class strongly distrusted the church during the
First Republic, it was easy for the Communists to exploit
this sentiment and win support after World War II.


3. (C) After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the church could
once again enjoy its freedom but had missed out on important
events like Vatican II and thus had missed an essential
opportunity to connect with lay followers. This distrust
carried over into the post-Communist era, the Cardinal
explained, and even today politicians distrust the church.
In fact, a 2008 poll showed that 39 percent of Czechs
identified themselves as atheists and 33 percent as belonging
to the Roman Catholic Church. A 2007 poll indicated that 55
percent of citizens voiced a mistrust of churches. The
Cardinal described a debate from 1995 in which he
participated with President Klaus. Klaus talked about the
economic transformation of the country and went on later to
assert that because the church has no political mandate it
has no right to comment. The Cardinal noted that 37,500
people come to Catholic services weekly in the Czech
Republic. No other entity can match that turnout, he argued.
He sadly noted that he and Klaus used to meet during
Christmas but that these meetings have ceased.

--------------
The Pope's Visit to Czech Republic
--------------


4. (C) Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Czech Republic two
weeks before the parliamentary elections on October 9-10 was
not scheduled so that it could impact the elections,
according to Cardinal Vlk. (Comment: And it probably won't,
given the Czech Republic has the highest rate of atheism in
Europe. The Pope's visit could, however, give a small boost
to the Christian Democrats, by encouraging the party
faithful, who are mostly Catholics from rural areas of
Moravia, to come out and vote. End Comment) It was timed to
coincide with the religious celebration of the Feast of Saint
Wenceslaus, the patron saint of the Czech Republic, on
September 28.


5. (C) The Czech Government has still not signed an agreement
with the Vatican on restitution of church property. A
previous bill was rejected by the constitutional court
because it limited religious freedom and was later killed in
the parliament because of political infighting. The Cardinal
said the Pope knows the restitution situation very well and
will raise this issue with the appropriate government
officials. Beyond that, the Pope is coming to provide a
boost to the church in a country where the overall situation
is not favorable.

--------------
Vacuum of Values
--------------

PRAGUE 00000465 002.2 OF 002




6. (C) When asked about extremism and intolerance in the
Czech Republic, the Cardinal said extremism and intolerance
stem from the lack of a link between church and society.
Political leaders constantly engage in corrupt acts and
provide no positive role model. Schools also lack important
elementary values. He said the Golden Rule does not exist
and the general sentiment among Czechs is that, "If my goat
dies, I hope yours does too." As a result, many people see
authoritarian methods as appropriate for dealing with many
issues. The intolerance associated with the opposition to a
new mosque in Brno (Ref) stems from a lack of information,
according to the Cardinal. He said he has good contacts with
Muslim leaders and that people need to be educated that "not
all Muslims are terrorists."

--------------
Comment - Restitution Stalled
--------------


7. (C) Cardinal Vlk is a thoughtful person who understands
the tough times the Catholic Church has experienced in the
Czech Republic. For ten years during the Communist regime,
he was a window cleaner by day and underground priest by
night. He seemed truly disappointed about the failure of the
previous restitution bill and did not appear optimistic that
another bill would pass anytime soon. He said an agreement
with the Vatican is very important and that Czech Government
officials need to recognize that. He said the church has
tried to compromise with the government, offering to let the
state keep contested church properties in exchange for a
monetary settlement, but the common view among the
politicians is that the church is greedy and is only
interested in gaining property.

Thompson-Jones