News from the Church Law Society

25 – 2/2003

 

 

The prestigious award of the Karlovarské právnické dny for the best specialized legal magazine published in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic in 2002 This year, The Church Law Review won the third place in the overall rating with the total sum of 146 points.

 

Visit at the Chapter of Vyšehrad

August 18, 2003. The CLS president and the secretary visited the St Peter and Paul Royal College Chapter of Vyšehrad. They were welcome by the Chapter’s superior, provost A. R. D. Antonín Doležal, our society’s member and legal counselor of the Chapter JUDr. Jan Kotous was also present. He is a vocational assistant at the Department of Labor Law and Social Security Law of the Charles University College of Law. The Chapter’s dean, R. D. ThDr. Jiří Huber, was also present at the welcoming. The CLS representation visited the library, being taken care of by canon P. František Verner OCr. They listened to his very interesting speech on cataloging he had completed in many a church library during his fructuous life. Especially interesting was the presentation of searches in the latest catalog of the Vyšehrad Chapter Library regarding petty articles.

 

Further on, the CLS representation visited the Chapter building, at the newly erected memorial in the Vyšehrad Cemetery they honored the memory of priests and ordinaries tortured to death during Nazism and Communism, and finally, in the St Peter and Paul Basilica, they listened to a detail speech of the hosts regarding the history of the chapter dome.

 

They also glanced at the publishing activity of the Chapter and expressed their appreciation for support the Chapter gives the Church Law Revue. The publishing activity includes the most famous Czech theology magazine, the monthly-published Theological Texts, being famous already in the era of secret publishing during the Communism. It was established and nowadays still directed by a famous prisoner of conscience (once sentenced to lifetime) Mons. ThDr. Oto Mádr, nowadays a non-resident canon of this chapter.

 

Congratulations

May 20, 2003. R.D. Josef Šťastný, parish priest of Blovice, and a member to our Society, graduated from his canon law studies at the Catholic University of Lublin, where he graduated with the degree of Master of Canon Law. June 1, 2003. The 55th birthday of our honorary member, R.D. Prof. ThDr. PhDr. Tomáš Halík, professor of the Charles University College of Philosophy, the president of the Czech Christian Academy, and the rector of the student church of the Sanctissimus Savior of Prague. June 20, 2003. Also the 55th birthday, now our member R.D. ThDr. Ing. Miloš Raban, lecturer of Religions and Philosophy at the Technical University of Liberec, the director of The International Center for Spiritual Recovery in Hejnice, parish of Raspenava and Hejnice. Between 1996–2003 he was the secretary of the preparatory committee to the Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic. June 25, 2003. Stanislav Hykyš, the Society’s and Institute for State Ecclesiastical Law’s member, graduated from the Charles University College of Law. At a festival graduation he received the degree of Master of Law. July 8, 2003. Our Society’s member, R.D. ICDr. Marián Feduš, Ph.D., received the degree of Doctor of Education at a festival graduation in the grand hall of the Ružomberok Catholic University College of Education July 10, 2003. The vice-chair and founding member of the CLS, Ing. Jana Mindlová, CSc., the secretary to the Psychotherapy Section of the Czech Christian Academy, a counselor of the Ordinary Congregation of the Merciful Sisters of St Charles Boromeo in Prague, celebrated a significant life jubilee. October 30, 2003. A member of our Society, Daniel Vlasák from Prague, successfully graduated from law study at the College of Law, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň. He presented his Master’s work on Impact of Orders and Similar Communities upon Instating Offices in Spiritual Administration. November 6, 2003. Jan Zeman from Liberec, a member of the Society, successfully graduated from the Charles University College of Law, and presented his Master’s work on Acknowledgement and Registration of Churches and Religious Societies in the Czech Lands since 1874.

 

New Advocats of the Interdiocesan Court in Prague

By the decree of Miloslav Cardinal Vlk, the Catholic Archbishop to Prague, and the moderator of the Interdiocesan Court of the Bohemian Church Province, effective as of July 15, 2003, for the period of five years, nineteen new advocates were appointed. Among these there are three members of the Society: R.D. Mgr. Jiří Čepl from Kasejovice, Petr Obdržálek from Průhonice, having graduated from Church Law at the Charles university College of Law, and JUDr. Ivan Vávra from Prague 2.

 

Wedding Congratulations

July 11, 2003. In St Peter and Paul Basilica at Vyšehrad Mgr. Veronika Kupková married JUDr. Štěpán Hůlka, LL.M., the executive editor of the Church Law Review, a long-term member of the work committee of the Society and a member to the Institute for State Ecclesiastical Law.

 

August 2, 2003. In the church of St Theresa of Child Jesus in Prague–Kobylisy Helena Špundová married Mgr. Miloslav Sládek, a lawyer and a long-term member of the Society.

 

August 30, 2003. In the Church of Angelic Virgin Marry in Prague, Hradčany (the Capuchins) Helena Šmydková married Štěpán Lisý, a lawyer and a member of the Society.

 

Deceases

June 27, 2003. We regretted the announcement of decease of the honorary member to our Society and the member to its work committee between 1995 and 1998, the emeritus synod warden of the Evangelic Church of Czech Brethren, JUDr. Pavel Šimek.

(jrt/zh)

 

News from the world

25 – 2/2003

 

The House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Czech Republic consented on a proposal to reject the ratification of the Treaty with the Holy See June 25, 2003. The House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Czech Republic consented by its majority of 110 votes out of 177 present MPs to reject the proposal of agreement on ratification of the international Treaty between the Czech Republic and the Holy See, signed on July 25. 2002.

 

Jubilee of the Eastern Germany Anti-Communist Rise Anniversary June 12, 2003. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Prague held the 50th Anniversary of the Folk Rise against the Communist Regime in the GDR (1953) colloquium, in the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Unfortunately, no news arrived announcing commemoration of another similar event in our country this year, one that would directly regard our nation and would also have its fiftieth anniversary. Concurrently with the Berlin Rise in June 1953 there was the Plzeň (Pilsen) Folk Rise against the monetary reform, by which the same regime robbed a large part of the population in the then People’s Democratic Czechoslovakia and which rise was also severely suppressed. Being lawyers, we are interested in the legal ground of the unexpected and unprecedented monetary reform (still a few days before then denied by the Cabinet) having been given by the then legislative Act 41/1953 Col.

 

The Velehrad Plenary Council

July 6–12, 2003. Velehrad experienced the first session of the Czech particular council, called forth in compliance with the CIC 1983, by the Czech Bishops’ Conference. The chair of the council is the Czech primate, the metropolitan of Prague, archbishop PhDr. Miloslav Cardinal Vlk. The council included 93 mem- bers of deciding or counseling vote plus eleven invited experts. Among those were also our members Prof. ThDr. PhDr. Tomáš Halík, ThLic. Damián Němec Th.D. OP, Doc. JUDr. ICLic. Antonín Ignác Hrdina, OPraem., Doc. JUDr. Jiří Kejř, DrSc., and Doc. JUDr. Jiří Rajmund Tretera OP.

 

Interesting Interview in Svatá Hora Magazine

In No. 3/2003 of Svatá Hora Magazine you can find an interview called ”Pilgrimage Site Must be Classic“, in which P. Stanislav Přibyl CSsR, a famous redemptorist preacher, a member to the Plenary Council of the Catholic Church in the Czech Lands, asks our colleague and his namesake R. D. JCD JUDr. Stanislav Přibyl, PhD, about his life experience (a few years ago they jointly received the priestly ordination in the Prague Cathedral).

 

Appointment of New Cardinals

September 28, 2003. The Pope appointed a large number of new cardinals in the public consistory. Among these there is a significant friend of our Society, the metropolitan archbishop to Ostrigom-Budapest, the primate of Hungary, Prof. Dr. Péter Erdő, rector of the Pázmány Catholic University in Budapest, and a Church Law professor. As we reminded during his appointment as a primate in December 2002, we gratefully remember his speech during the II. International Church Law Conference held by our Society on the grounds of the Charles University College of Law in September 1998. So did we remember his hospitality at the conference by the International Consociation for Supporting Canon Law Study held in Budapest in September 2001.

 

The Czech nation, too, got another cardinal. This is Prof. Dr. Tomáš Špidlík SJ, famous expert in Christian East Theology and a long-term spiritual of the Czech Papal College Nepomucenum in Rome.

 

 (jrt)