Publication Cover
Nationalities Papers
The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity
Volume 30, 2002 - Issue 2
93
Views
3
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Prayers, pilgrimages and petitions: The secret church and the growth of civil society in Slovakia

Pages 215-240 | Published online: 19 Aug 2010

References

  • 1990 . Rodinné spolocenstvo ,
  • 1981 . Hansjakob Stehle, Eastern Politics of the Vatican 1917-1979 , 274 Ohio : Ohio University Press . Stehle provides an excellent analysis of the Vatican's policies in Czechoslovakia, but his only paragraph describing secret consecrations in Slovakia contains several inaccuracies
  • Tomsky , Alexander . 1983 . "Der Katholizismus in der Tschechoslowakei" ” . In ed. Religionsfreiheit und Menschenrechte , Edited by: Lendvai , Paul . 120 – 149 . Styria : Graz . Alexander Tomsky maintained close contacts with many religious activists in Czechoslovakia during his tenure as a researcher for the Keston College (now named Keston Institute) news and research center in the 1980s. From the Czech-orientation of his reports, most of his contacts apparently lived in the Czech Lands
  • Skilling , H. Gordon . 1981 . Charter 77 and Human Rights in Czechoslovakia , 55 London : George Alien & Unwin .
  • 1991 . Sabrina Ramet's 1991 survey of independent activity in Czechoslovakia concludes, "Until the blossoming of democracy in the closing weeks of 1989, independent activism was the preserve of a small minority." Sabrina Ramet, Social Currents in Eastern Europe , 112 Durham : Duke University Press .
  • Miklo?ko , Franti?ek . 1991 . Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit'z osudov katolickej cirkvi na Slovensku v rokoch 1943-89 , Bratislava : Archa .
  • ?imulcík , Ján . 1997 . Svetlo z podzemia: z kroniky katoliíckeho samizdatu 1969-1989 , Pre?ov : Vydavetel'stvo Michala Va?ka .
  • ?imulcík , Ján . 2000 . Zápas o nádej: z kroniky tajných knazov 1969-1989 , Pre?ov : Vydavetel'stvo Michala Va?ka .
  • Archives containing religious samizdat cited in this paper include: the samizdat archive at the Christian Democratic Movement headquarters, Bratislava, Slovakia; the Libri Prohibiti Samizdat Archive, Prague, Czech Republic; the Czechoslovak Documentation Center, Dobrichovice (Prague), Czech Republic; the Keston Institute's archive, Oxford, England; and the research archives of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in the Open Society Archives, Budapest, Hungary.
  • Linz , Juan J. and Stepan , Alfred . 1996 . Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe , 7 – 8 . Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press .
  • Szakolczai , Aacute;rpád and Horváth , Ágnes . 1992 . "The Discourse of Civil Society and the Self-elimination of the Party" ” . In Democracy and Civil Society in Eastern Europe , Edited by: Lewis , Paul G. 16 New York : St. Martin's Press .
  • Tismaneanu , Vladimir . 1992 . Reinventing Politics , 170 – 174 . New York : The Free Press . For the argument that independent groups, such as Charter 77 and Solidarity played a leading role in the formation of civil society and contributed to the collapse of Communism
  • ?imecka , Milan . 1984 . "Adaptation" ” . In The Restoration of Order , 139 – 140 . London : Verso .
  • Michnik , Adam . 1985 . "A New Evolutionism" ” . In Letters From Prison and Other Essays , 139 Berkeley : University of California Press .
  • Benda , Václav . 1991 . "Parallel polis" ” . In Civic Freedom in Central Europe , Edited by: Skilling , H. G. and Wilson , Paul . 36 New York : St. Martin's Press .
  • Havel , Václav . 1991 . "The Power of the Powerless" ” . In Open Letters , Edited by: Wilson , Paul . 148 – 151 . New York : Knopf .
  • Konrád , György . 1984 . Antipolitics , Edited by: Alien , Richard E. 70 New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich .
  • Bishop Ján Korec of the secret church in Slovakia repeated this assertion in a 1983 letter to the editors of Smena in response to one of its attacks on the secret church. The text of his letter was republished in samizdat. See Una Sancta Catholica, Advent 1983, p. 25.
  • Martin , Peter . 1988 . "Church State Relations" . RFE/RL , 27 December : 19 – 24 . The results of this study were republished by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in 1988 without an explanation of how the researcher defined religiosity
  • Votruba , Martin . 1995 . “ 'The Geography of Slovakia's Religions in the 1991 Census: Maps" ” . Slovak Studies Program, University of Pittsburgh . manuscript
  • George , Father . 1949 . God's Underground , New York : Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. . Kolakovic traveled to the West after the war and told his story to an American, Gretta Palmer. These memoirs of his experiences in Croatia, Slovakia and Soviet Russia during and after the Second World War were first published in English in 1949 under the pseudonym "Father George." (as told to Gretta Palmer)
  • Ciszek , Walter J. 1964 . With God in Russia , 9 – 10 . New York : The American Press . For a description of the Russicum by a graduate who made it into Russia
  • Graham , Robert A. 1996 . The Vatican and Communism During World War JI , 131 – 139 . San Francisco : Ignatius Press . Stehle, Eastern Politics, pp. 129-130, and
  • 1984 . "Dr. Silvester Krcméry 60-roDný" . Nábozenstvo a súcasnost' , : 19 For a brief description of Krcméry's first meeting with Kolakovic
  • Krcméry , Silvester and Juki , Vladimir . 1996 . V ?l'apajach Kolakovica , Bratislava : Chads . Memoir accounts contain much of the information about Kolakovic's work in Slovakia and the early history of the secret church; Miklo?ko interviewed Krcméry and Jukl for his own history of the secret church. Miklo?ko, Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit'
  • Krcméry and Jukl . V ?l 'apajach Kolakovica 12
  • Palmer . God's Underground 24 – 25 .
  • Ján?imulcik, "God's Underground: Catholic Church in Slovakia, 1943-1989," Keston Institute archive file (hereafter KI): SL/ROM.
  • Miklo?ko . Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit' 159 – 161 . A footnote indicates that this appendix is not a complete list of members
  • Ramet . Cross and Commissar 76
  • Kaplan . "Church and State--Part I" ” . 60 – 69 .
  • Kaplan . "Church and State--Part II" ” . 181 – 182 . Ján Korec, a Jesuit theological student in Slovakia during this period, describes this subjugation of the Catholic Church by the state in his memoirs. Originally written in 1976, they existed in the underground until they were officially published in 1990
  • Korec , Ján Ch. 1990 . Od barbarskej nod , 55 – 57 . Bratislava : Lúc . A second volume covers the period from the Prague Spring to 1989
  • Korec , Ján Ch. 1993 . Od barbarskej nod na slobode , Bratislava : Lúc .
  • Kaplan . "Church and State--Part I" ” . 69
  • 1984 . "Aktion K" in "StB VDera a dnes: procesy s katolickou Cirkvou" . Výber , : 27 – 28 . A samizdat article by Dr Karel [last name illegible] describes the secret police's repression against the Catholic Church between 1948 and 1958, including; See also Kaplan, "Church and State--Part II," pp. 185-187
  • Korec , See . Od barbarskej nod 48
  • Tomsky . "Der Katholizismus in der Tschechoslowakei" ” . 125
  • Krcméry and Juki . V ?l'apajach Kolakovica 81 – 93 . Miklo?ko's appendixes contain an extensive list of priests and laymen arrested and sentenced between 1949 and 1954. A comparison of these names with his list of Rodina members indicates that at least 35 were arrested during this time frame
  • Miklo?ko . Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit' 161 – 178 .
  • Kaplan . "Church and State--Part III" ” . 275 – 279 .
  • Corley , Felix . 1993 . "The Secret Clergy in Communist Czechoslovakia" . Religion, State and Society , 21 ( 2 ) : 172
  • Graham . The Vatican and Communism 131 Secret ordinations were most common in Czechoslovakia, but the Vatican also permitted them in Romania
  • Corley . "The Secret Clergy" ” . 173
  • Stehle . Eastern Politics 273
  • Corley . "The Secret Clergy" ” . 181 – 184 . Some of these later ordinations extended far beyond the scope of what the Vatican had originally envisioned. Corley examines the controversy revealed after the Velvet Revolution, when many married secret bishops (at least eight) and even women secretly ordained as bishops, came forward seeking official recognition from the Vatican. Several of these consecrations were the work of secret Bishop Felix Davidek. Before his death in 1988, Davidek secretly ordained hundreds of priests, many of whom had little or no theological training
  • ?imulcík . Zápas O nádej 9 In the preface to ?imulcík's study of the secret priests, Korec reported that he secretly ordained about 120 priests up to 1989
  • Krcméry and Jukl . V ?l 'apajach Kolakovica 93 – 94 .
  • Reban , Milan J. 1990 . "The Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia" ” . In Catholicism and Politics in Communist Societies , Edited by: Ramet , Pedro . 150 – 151 . Durham : Duke University Press . For more on the situation of the Greek Catholic Church, see
  • 1976 . "The Ups and Downs of the Greek Catholic Church" . RFE/RL , 14 July : 10 – 12 .
  • Korec . Od barbarskej nod 87 – 89 . 153 – 163 . 216 Korec, in a five-page letter to the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly, recounts his secret ordination and consecration in 1951 and the persecution by the authorities that followed. Bishop Jan Korec to Czechoslovak Federal Assembly, 27 April 1980, KI: CZ ROM 8/2 Korec, Jan
  • Korec . Od barbarskej noci na slobode 37 – 41 .
  • Tomsky , Alexander . 1983 . 1"Pacem in Terris' Between Church and State in Czechoslovakia" . Religion in Communist Lands , 10 ( 3 ) : 277
  • ?imulcík . Zapas o nádej 54
  • ?imulcík, "God's Underground."
  • Miklo?ko . Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit' 131 – 136 .
  • 1984 . Výber , : 11 18
  • Lesnák , Rudolf . 1988 . Listy z podzemia: súborná dokumentácia krest'anskej samizdatovej publicistiky na Slovensku v rokoch 1945-1989 , 218 – 257 . Bratislava : Vydalo Vydavatel'stvo USPO . Lesnák briefly describes 452 Slovak samizdat books in his catalog
  • Ibid., pp. 31, 181-183.
  • ?imulcík . Svetlo z podzemia 261 – 274 . Publishing figures based on ?imulcík's estimates
  • Kusá , Jolana . 1995 . Raisa Kopsová, Franti?ek Fundarek, ?ivot v slave a ?ivot slovom: zjavné a skryté súvislosti Slovenského samizdatu , 125 Bratislava : Nadácia Milana ?imecku . Slovak political samizdat periodicals in the late 1980s include Altamíra (1985-1987); K (1986-1987); and Fragment (1987). In 1988, the editors of K and Fragment combined their efforts to publish Fragment K. Kontakt, the other samizdat of the political opposition, was published between 1980 and 1983; Martin ?imecka, interview by the author, 25 June 1996, Bratislava, Slovakia
  • 1988 . "Glasno--ale nie o Bohu" . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 33 – 35 .
  • 1984 . Výter , : 70
  • Skilling , H. Gordon . 1989 . Samizdat and an Independent Society in Central and Eastern Europe , 17 Columbus : Ohio State University Press . Skilling argues that samizdat helped develop and protect a second or independent culture in Central Europe
  • Miklo?ko . Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit' 125 Krcméry, interview with the author. For a brief description of Krcméry's first meeting with Karol Wojtyla, see
  • 1988 . "Mariánske pútnické miesta na Slovensku" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 27 – 29 . Slovak religious samizdat contained many guides to pilgrimage sites. See for example
  • 1985 . Výber , Výber published an invitation from Moravian Catholics on the back cover of a spring issueMiklo?ko, though referring to the Moravian Catholics plan, credits Vladimir Jukl with pushing the idea of a night program at Velehrad. Miklo?ko, Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit', pp. 128-130
  • 1985 . "Velehrad '85" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 17
  • 1985 . "BoIi sme na Velehrade" . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 5 – 6 .
  • 1985 . Vzkrí?ení , : 15 Religious samizdat periodicals reported this range of pilgrims in attendance. There is no information regarding how many of the pilgrims actively belonged to the secret church. See "BoIi sme na Velehrade," p. 8; "Velehrad '85," pp. 17-18; "Velehrad 1985," p. 17
  • 1985 . "Velehrad nas" . Informace o církvi , : 6 Photographs of the pilgrims gathered around the Basilica at Velehrad on 7 July indicate that the pilgrims filled every inch of the square and support the magnitude of the size of the crowd reported by religious samizdat. KI: photos #1793, #1876
  • "Velehrad '85," p. 18.
  • 1987 . "Pútne slávnosti na Slovensku v r. 1986" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 17 – 19 .
  • 1987 . "?a?tin--September 1987" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 11
  • 1988 . "?a?tin--'88" . Katolícky mesacník , : 1
  • 1985 . >"Gaboltov '85" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 20 "Pútne slávnosti na Slovensku v r. 1986," pp. 17-19; Ján Carnogurský,"Message from Ján Carnogurský to Keston College," KI: CZ ROM 7/4 pilgrimages
  • 1988 . "Pút' v Gaboltove" . Voice of America (VoA) , 24 July
  • 1986 . "Pout1 Reckokatolíku v Lutine 1986" . Informace o církvi , : 10 also see the figures that Carnogurský sent to Keston College. Carnogurský, "Message."
  • 1988 . "Pilgrimage at Topol'cany" . Summary of World Broadcasts (SWB) , 13 September
  • 1986 . "Levoca 1986" . VoA , 12 July
  • 1987 . "Record Numbers Attend Slovak Pilgrimages" . Keston News Service , 23 July : 19
  • 1987 . Carnogurský, "Message"; "Levoca put' 1987" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 7
  • 1988 . "Mariánsky rok na Slovensku" . Katolícky mesacník , : 1
  • Martin , Peter . 1988 . "The Pilgrimage to Levoca" . RFE/RL , 14 July : 19
  • 1988 . "My?lienky z Levocskej pute" . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 3
  • "Pútne slavnosti na Slovensku v r. 1986," pp. 18-19.
  • "?a?tín-'88," pp. 1-3.
  • 1986 . "Police Break Up Catholic Pilgrim's Rally" . Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) , 14 August : D3 Western news organizations reported many unsuccessful police attempts to deter pilgrims, such as blocking roads, turning dogs on pilgrims, and taking pictures of pilgrims
  • 1988 . "Slovaks Mark End of Marian Year" . Keston News Service , 8 September : 7
  • Carnogurský , Ján . 1988 . "The Underground Church and Pilgrimages in Slovakia" . Salisbury Review , June : 36
  • 1983 . "Open Letter of Slovak Catholics to President Gustav Husák" . FBIS , 6 June : D1 – D2 . A Vatican report indicated that this letter was dated and sent to Husák on 15 April 1983. FBIS, 6 June 1983, p. D3. Miklo?ko and Krcméry composed the letter and collected the signatures. Miklo?ko, Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit', p. 144
  • 1986 . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 18 – 20 . An article about the abortion reform preceded the text of the letter and reported that the Slovak signatures had been collected in only "a couple of days."
  • 1986 . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' , : 21 – 22 . Nábo?enstvo a súcasnost' reported that more than 6,500 Slovaks had signed the letter
  • 1988 . "Podpisy na obranu Ivana Polanského" . Informace církvi , : 16
  • 1988 . "Dopis otce Kardinála Tomá?ka" . Informace o církvi , : 7
  • 1988 . "Rie?it' situáciu veriacich v CSSR" . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 13 Father Halík, one of Tomá?ek's advisers in the Czech secret church, cites TomSek's approval of this petition as evidence of his desire to take a stronger position. Halík, interview by the author
  • 1988 . "Podpisová akce vericích" . Informace o církvi , : 7
  • Krest'anske obzory reports that 95,000 signatures had been collected after 2 weeks. Krest'anske obzory, No. 7, 1988, p. 27. Bishop Korec also writes that Slovak Catholics collected up to 100,000 signatures in the first two weeks. Korec, Od barbarskj nod na slobode, p. 404.
  • 1988 . "K podpisom zo Slovenska" . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 16
  • 1988 . Krest'anske obzory , : 28 Krcméry, one of the individuals personally responsible for collecting signatures in Slovakia, reported that more than half of the total came from Slovakia. Krcméry, interview with the author. Krest'anske obzory's tally in the September 1988 issue gave 300,000 of 500,000 total signatures to Slovakia
  • Korec . Od barbarskej noc na slobode 403
  • "K podpisom zo Slovenska," p. 16.
  • Carnogurský . "The Underground Church" ” . 34 – 37 . Carnogurský, interview with the author. For his earlier analysis of the secret church's organization, see Also see Ján Carnogurský, "O pútiach a o inom," July 1988, in records of the research institute of RFE/RL, East European Archives, Open Society Archives, Budapest, Hungary, 300, Czechoslovakian Unit (subfonds 30), subject file: dissent/personalities, Carnogursk'ý
  • Carnogurský, interview with the author. The Czechoslovak authorities apparently did not take note of this distinction. In a 1989 interview, Vladimir Janku, the Director of the Central Committee for Church Affairs, stated that "this so-called underground church is in reality identical to Charter 77." FBIS, 2 March 1989, p. 12.
  • 1988 . "Verejne zhroma?denie" . Bratislavské listy , : 9 The text of this letter was republished in samizdat
  • 1988 . "Výzva k verejnemu zhroma?denia" . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 42
  • Miklo?ko, interview with the author. For the 23 March Vatican Radio announcement, see SWB, 28 March 1988.
  • 1988 . "Výrzva k úcasti na zhroma?dení veriacich 25 Marcao 18:00 hod" . Bratislavské listy , : 10 Samizdat editors later published these signboard announcements
  • Korec . Od barbarskej nod na sloboda 409 Miklo?ko, interview with the author; Krcméry reported that the police refused to let him leave his home. Krcméry, interview with the author
  • 1988 . "Police Break up Bratislava Church Demonstration" . FBIS , 28 March : 9 Members of the Western press who witnessed the event estimated that 2,000 people attended the demonstration
  • Ponická , Hana . 1988 . "Hodina Bratislavy" . 25 March typed account from the private collection of Vladimír Manák, Bratislava, Slovakia. For an extensive collection of documents, eyewitness accounts, and photos of this demonstration see
  • Korec , J. Ch. , ed. 1994 . Bratislavský vel'ký piatok: zbierka autentických dokumentov o zhromazdeni veriacich 25. Marca 1988 , Bratislava : Lúc .
  • 1995 . A Slovak documentary film contains footage of this demonstration. Du?an Hanák, director, Papierové hlavy , Slovakia : Ales .
  • 1988 . "List Otca Biskupa Korea" . Rodinné spolocenstvo , : 29 – 30 .
  • 1988 . "Bratislava Believers Protest to Premier Strougal About Police Action" . SWB , 13 May
  • 1988 . "Ko?ice Priests Protest to Slovak Premier Against Police Attack" . SWB , 13 May
  • Miklo?ko . Nebudete ich môct'rozvrátit' 148 – 149 .
  • "Police Break Up Bratislava Church Demonstration," p. 9.
  • Linz and Stepan . Problems of Democratic Transition 14 They also explain that civil society's development is encouraged by the legal guarantees established by the rule of law, by a state apparatus that can enforce the rights of civil society, and by an economic society that can support the autonomy needed by civil society
  • 1989 . "O Slovensku a o Slovacich" . Alternativa , March : 46
  • 1989 . "Deputy Premier Carnogurský on Political Position" . FBIS , 15 December : 25
  • 1990 . "Programové vyhlásenie Krest'anskodemokratického Hnutia" . Krest'anske obzory , : 8 – 10 .
  • Carnogurský , Ján and od Dunaja , Videné , eds. 1997 . "Prejav na zakladajúcom sneme KDH" ” . 220 Bratislava : Kalligram .
  • Kuhajdová, interview with the author. A brochure that HKSM distributed in the mid-1990s described its programs and explained that although the organization had been founded formally in 1990, its work had begun decades earlier through the efforts of Kolakovic, Krcméry, Jukl, and Korec. Brochure, Hnutie krest'anských spolocenstiev mláde?e, private collection of the author.
  • Fisher , Sharon . 1998 . "The Slovak Democratic Coalition and the 1998 Elections" . paper written for the 1998 AAASS annual conference . September 24-27 1998 , Boca Raton , FL .
  • 1998 . "Kovác to Head Slovak Opposition Petition" . RFE/RL Newsline , 24 March
  • 1998 . "Mass Protest Demonstration in Bratislava" . RFE/RL Newsline , 26 March
  • 1998 . "Slovak Speaker Refuses to Accept Petition" . RFE/RL Newsline , 14 May
  • 1998 . "Slovakia Opts for Political Change" . RFE/RL Newsline , 28 September
  • 1998 . "Dzurinda Appointed Slovak Premier" . RFE/RL Newsline , 30 October

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.