“In accordance with the relevant articles of Canon law the newly appointed Prague archbishop will take up his office in two months time at the latest. This will happen during a liturgical ceremony that will be held in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague, the date to be announced very soon, “said the spokesman for the Prague Archbishopric Aleš Pištora. Cardinal Miloslav Vlk will be responsible for the Archdiocese of Prague until Dominik Duka assumes his duties.
Who is Dominik Duka:
He was born on 26th April 1943 in Hradec Králové. After he finished the Grammar School of J.K.Tyl, he worked in a factory in Hradec Králové where he trained to be a machine locksmith. In 1965 he finished his compulsory military service and studied theology in Litoměřice. In January 1968 he entered the secret novitiate of the Dominican order. He was ordained as a priest on 22 June 1970 by Cardinal Štěpán Trochta of Litoměřice.
On 6 June 1998, he was appointed bishop of Hradec Králové by Pope John Paul II, and was ordained in Hradec Králové on 26 September 1998. He has had a very eventful life indeed. In 1975, his State Approval of the Priestly Service was revoked and he worked as a draftsman in the Škoda Plzeň factory for 15 years. Between 1981 and 1982 he was imprisoned for his active involvement in the organisation of studies of Dominican priests and for having foreign contacts.
Cardinal Vlk twenty years as bishop:
Sunday 14th February 2010 marked twenty years since Cardinal Miloslav Vlk was appointed bishop of České Budějovice by Pope Jan Pavel II. He spent just one year in office. On 27th March 1991 he was appointed Prague archbishop. Miloslav Vlk was born on 17th May 1932 in the South Bohemian town of Líšnice (region Písek). After he passed his A-levels in 1952, he wasn’t allowed to proceed with his studies and started working as an unskilled worker in the factory Motor Unionin in České Budějovice. Between 1953 and 1955 he did military service in the town Dvory close to Karlovy Vary. Due to the partial improvement in the political situation he was accepted by the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University where he studied archival science. Following his graduation in 1960, he worked as an archivist in the Municipal Archive of České Budějovice, where he later served as director.
Theology studies
In 1964, he started studying at the Theology Faculty of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Litoměřice. He was ordained as a priest on 23 June 1968 in Česke Budějovice and was immediately appointed secretary to Bishop Josef Hlouch of České Budějovice. The State authorities, worried about his influence and pastoral activity, forced him to leave České Budějovice in 1971 and sent him to the small parishes of Lažiště and Záblatí, isolated deep in the mountains of the Bohemian Forest. From 1972 he worked as parish priest in Rožmitál pod Třemšínem for seven years before the State authorities revoked his state authorization to exercise his priestly ministry.
Window-cleaner
Similar to other priests disliked by the regime, he worked as a window-cleaner. Due to poor health he later worked in the archive of the Czechoslovak State Bank. Prague was his home for ten years and it was here that he secretly carried out his pastoral activity with small groups of people. On 1 January 1989, he was permitted to exercise the priestly ministry and became parish priest at Žihobce and Bukovník in the Klatovy region of Western Bohemia, and later on in Čachrov, Javorná, Železná Ruda, Běšina and Stráž na Šumavě.
Bishop in Budějovice and archbishop in Prague
On 14 February 1990, he was appointed Bishop of České Budějovice and he received Episcopal ordination on 31st March 1990. On 26th November 1994, he was appointed Archbishop of Prague by Pope Jan Pavel II. Between 1993 and 2001 he worked as President of the Czech Episcopal Conference. As of 1994 he became a member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and member of the Pontifical Communication Council. In April 2005, he participated in the papal conclave in the Vatican where cardinals elected Pope Benedict XVI.
Awards for Cardinal Vlk
In May 2007, Cardinal Vlk reached the age of 75, and offered his resignation in compliance with Church Law. Pope Benedict XVI extended his office for another two years.
Cardinal Miloslav Vlk has won many awards over his career. In 1999 he was awarded the Great Cross of Service (Grosses Verdienstkreuz) and in 2002 the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, a state decoration of the Czech Republic, for his eminent contribution to the promotion of democracy and human rights. He received many other awards from various organisations such Ackermann Gemeinde, an organisation that works towards the improvement of mutual relationships between Czechs and Germans. Apart from that, he has also received many honorary degrees. Between 1992 and1993 he received three of them from: Illinois Benedictine College, University of St. Thomas in USA and university in Bavarian town of Passau. The Papal Theological Academy in the Polish town of Krakow and Opole University conferred on him honorary degrees in 2001 and 2002 respectively. He became an honorary citizen of the towns: Rožmitál pod Třemšínem (1992), Cedar Rapids/USA (1992), Baltimore/USA (1992), Třebon (1996), Klodzka/PL (5. 10. 1996), Roudnice nad Labem (1997) and Mníšek pod Brdy (1998).
