Czechoslovak Hussite Church - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Czechoslovak Hussite Church is a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

Church which separated from the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

in former Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

. It traces its tradition back to the Hussite

Hussite

The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...

reformers and acknowledges Jan Hus

Jan Hus

Jan Hus , often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague...

(John Huss) as its predecessor. It was well-supported by Czechoslovakia's first president

Hrad

The word hrad is the Czech and Slovak word for castle and is commonly used as a part of castle name, e.g. Pražský hrad , Spišský hrad , or Bratislavský hrad .*List of castles in Slovakia...

, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk.

History

The forerunner of the CČSH was the Jednota (Union of the Catholic Czechoslovak Clergy), which was founded in 1890 to promote modernist reforms in the Roman Catholic Church, such as use of the vernacular in the liturgy and the adoption of voluntary rather than compulsory clerical celibacy. The radical movement that resulted in the foundation of a new Church began in the Christmas season of 1919, when Christmas masses were celebrated in the Czech language in many Czechoslovak churches. The CCH was officially established on January 8, 1920 by Dr. Karel Farský

Karel Farský

Karel Farský was a Czech Roman Catholic priest, and later founder and first patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.-References:...

, who became its first Patriarch and author of its liturgy. It was known until 1971 as the Czechoslovak Church. The head of the Church continues to bear the title of Patriarch

Patriarchate

A patriarchate is the office or jurisdiction of a patriarch. A patriarch, as the term is used here, is either* one of the highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, earlier, the five that were included in the Pentarchy: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, but now nine,...

.

Membership is estimated at between 100,000 and 180,000 adherents, mostly in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

and some in Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

. There are 304 congregations divided into five dioceses situated in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, Pilsen, Hradec Králové

Hradec Králové

Hradec Králové is a city of the Czech Republic, in the Hradec Králové Region of Bohemia. The city's economy is based on food-processing technology, photochemical, and electronics manufacture. Traditional industries include musical instrument manufacturing – the best known being PETROF pianos...

, Brno

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

, and Olomouc

Olomouc

Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...

in the Czech Republic and 3 congregations in the only one Bratislava Diocese in Slovakia

Slovakia

. There are approximately 266 priests in active ministry, of whom 130 are women. Candidates of ministry are prepared at the Hussite Faculty of Theology at Charles University in Prague.

Doctrine and liturgy

The Hussite Church is unique in not being Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

. It instead drawing its teachings from the traditional Christianity presented by the Church Fathers

Church Fathers

The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...

(Patristics), with the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the work of Saints Cyril and Methodius

Saints Cyril and Methodius

Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Bulgaria, Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they...

, and the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

tradition, especially Utraquist

Utraquism

Utraquism was a Christian dogma first proposed by Jacob of Mies in 1414. It maintained that the Eucharist should be administered "in both kinds" — as both bread and wine — to all the congregation, including the laity...

and Hussite

Hussite

The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...

thought.

Like Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Anglo-Catholics

Anglo-Catholicism

The terms Anglo-Catholic and Anglo-Catholicism describe people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm the Catholic, rather than Protestant, heritage and identity of the Anglican churches....

, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church recognizes seven sacraments. Like the Lutherans

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

and the Reformed churches

Reformed churches

The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...

, it emphasizes the freedom of conscience of individual believers, they practiced the ordination of women

Ordination of women

Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...

and emphasizes the equal participation of the laity in church leadership.

The celebration of the liturgy is the center of worship practice. It used to be two forms, which have much in common with the texts of the Catholic Mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

, but there are also elements of Luther's German Mass and the tradition of the Utraquist mass.

There is no veneration of saints

Veneration

Veneration , or veneration of saints, is a special act of honoring a saint: an angel, or a dead person who has been identified by a church committee as singular in the traditions of the religion. It is practiced by the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic, and Eastern Catholic Churches...

, but images of saint

Saint

A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...

s are employed in the church decoration. In the post-1920 period new churches were built, but only a few portraits appropriate, particularly representations of Christ, and occasionally pictures of Jan Hus.

In the iconography of the Church the chalice plays a major role, usually depicted in red, as in the 15th Century as a battle standard on the flags of the Hussites was used. It is found in the church, to the sacerdotal, the bindings of liturgical books, church steeples and church banners.

Demography of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church

After an initial split from the Catholic Church, amidst the post-war atmosphere of anti-Catholic agitation and euphoria about the Czech independence, the Czechoslovak Church saw rapid increase of its membership. In the first Czechoslovak post-war census of 1921 523,232 people claimed to be adherents of this church in what is today the Czech Republic. In 1930 the membership further grew to 779,672.http://snem.cirkev.cz/download/Srb.htm With 7.3 pct. of total population it became the prevailing religion in several regions of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

and to a lesser degree in Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

. At the beginning of the Communist rule the 1950 census recorded 946,497 adherents of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. In the following decades there was no official census of religious affiliation in what is today the Czech Republic. In the 1991 census there were 178,036 members of this church in the Czech republic. The 2001 census recorded 99,103 members.http://www.czso.cz/csu/2003edicniplan.nsf/p/4110-03

Relations with other churches

At beginning the Hussite Church sought relations with the Serbian Orthodox Church

Serbian Orthodox Church

The Serbian Orthodox Church is one of the autocephalous Orthodox Christian churches, ranking sixth in order of seniority after Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Russia...

and the Old Catholic Church

Old Catholic Church

The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...

, and also spoused tendency to a rationalist and Unitarian

Unitarianism

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....

Christian theology, but when adopted its creed in 1958 it was founded on the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed.

The Church is a member of the World Council of Churches

World Council of Churches

The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...

, the Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic, the Conference of European Churches

Conference of European Churches

The Conference of European Churches was founded in 1959 to promote reconciliation, dialogue and friendship between the churches of Europe at a time of growing Cold War political tensions and divisions. It is an ecumenical fellowship of Christian churches in Europe; its membership consists of most...

, and the Leuenberg Community of Churches

Relations between the Church and its fellow members of the ecumenical movement are cordial, but remained strained with the country's Roman Catholic leadership. The first female bishop of the Czechoslovak-Hussite church was elected to a 7-year term of office in April 1999. In January 1999, Catholic Archbishop Miloslav Vlk initially made a public statement of disapproval, warning against election of a woman to this position and saying that it would cause deterioration of ecumenical relations. Following criticism by the Czech-Hussite Church for interfering in their affairs, the Roman Catholic Church distanced themselves from his remarks and stated that they would exert no pressure against her election. In 2000, Catholic representatives attended the consecration of Jana Šilerová as the Hussite Church’s first woman bishop.

Patriarchs

Karel Farský
Karel Farský
Karel Farský was a Czech Roman Catholic priest, and later founder and first patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.-References:...

(1924 - 1927)
Gustav Adolf Procházka (1927 - 1942)
František Kovář (1946 - 1961)
Miroslav Novák (1961 - 1990)
Vratislav Štěpánek (1991 - 1994)
Josef Špak (1994 - 2001)
Jan Schwarz
Jan Schwarz
Jan Schwarz is a former Patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.Now he is Unitarian.- Notes :...

(2001 - 2006)
Tomáš Butta
Tomáš Butta
Tomáš Butta is the eighth patriarch of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church.In 1984 Butta graduated from seminary and was ordained as a priest. He received appointment as a rector in the Hradec Králové Region...

(2006 - )

External links

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