http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2005/Art/1103/news6.php Church is ruled owner of St. Vitus District Court's move reignites debate; state to appeal decision By Kristina Alda Staff Writer, The Prague Post November 02, 2005 Vladimír Weiss/The Prague Post The issue of who owns St. Vitus Cathedral, the state or the church, has been divisive since at least 1954. The dispute over the ownership of St. Vitus Cathedral, one of Prague's most iconic cultural landmarks, has dragged on for 13 long years. It looked as though the conflict between the state and the Catholic Church might finally be settled when the Prague 1 District Court ruled in favor of the church Oct. 25. But the state has decided to appeal to a higher court to have the decision overturned. The fate of the cathedral, and two nearby properties that are part of the dispute, remains uncertain. The simmering tension between the state and church, meanwhile, has once again bubbled up to the surface. During the communist regime the state seized control of church property. Priests in the Czech Republic are still employees of the government, a fact that only adds to the tension. "It's ridiculous that the state is still the cathedral's administrator," says Catholic Church spokesman Martin Horálek. "When there is a Mass, the priest actually has to physically go and borrow keys from the Prague Castle administration." The church, according to Horálek, is like a guest in the cathedral building and has no authority when it comes to the program. When the District Court reached the same verdict — in favor of the church — 11 years ago, the state successfully appealed to the Highest Court and the ruling was overturned. The state has been in charge of the cathedral's administration since 1954, when the communists declared in an edict that it belongs to the people and not the church. But according to Catholic Church representatives, the Communist Party never actually expropriated the cathedral. "The edict said that [the cathedral] belongs to the Czechoslovak people," says Petr Zdercík, the lawyer who represented the Catholic Church in the case. "But a government edict wasn't based on a law. There wasn't any law in place that would make it legal for the state to seize the cathedral." Libuše Fritzová, the judge who made the District Court ruling, said, "I based my decision on [the fact] that the church never lost ownership of the cathedral and the adjacent buildings." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- "It's ridiculous that the state is still the cathedral's administrator." Martin Horálek, spokesman, Catholic Church ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- "The only thing that the [communist] government did do in 1954 was take over the administration," Zdercík adds. "They may have thought they were expropriating the cathedral, but they were wrong. They didn't follow through with the legal process." Milada Šípková, a lawyer from the Office of the Government Representation in Property Affairs (ÚZSVM), represented the state in the court case. She says she will do all she can to have the District Court ruling overturned. "The state plans to appeal to the Prague City Court within the legal deadline," she says. "The legal representatives from ÚZSVM will do all in their power, within the parameters of the law, to benefit the state." But the Catholic Church doesn't plan on giving up anytime soon, either. "We had thought that the [Oct. 25] ruling would finally put an end to this eternal tug of war," says Horálek. "We hope that the Czech justice system is autonomous enough that the final decision will be fair." Another factor complicating the struggle is that the property law concerning the cathedral dates to medieval times. The Czech head of state, King Charles IV, established the cathedral in 1344, and was considered the legal owner. Since its completion the Catholic Church was in charge of the cathedral's administration for over 600 years — until the communists took over. "The problem is, [in the 14th century] the state and the church were interconnected," says Roman Zaoral, professor of medieval history at Charles University and a member of the Christian Academy. "There was no strict division between the two." Zaoral says the Czech Republic is rare in that its head of state as well as its cardinal reside in the same complex: "The fact that both heads are based at Prague Castle has been a source of tension here since the Middle Ages." Further fueling this tension is the country's refusal to sign a treaty with the Vatican, something that most post-communist countries have done, says Zaoral. The treaty helps define the role of the Catholic Church in state affairs, such as education, the military and health care. Parliament overwhelmingly rejected the treaty two years ago, fearing the church was gaining too much influence, he says. It's unsurprising that even today, communists continue to strongly oppose the cathedral being turned over to the Catholic Church. "The Czech Republic isn't a Catholic state," says Jirí Dolejš, deputy chairman of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. "A cultural monument of such significance as St. Vitus Cathedral should belong to the state. I hope that the appeal will end in the ruling being overturned like last time." What might seem more curious is that the general population is also siding with the state in this dispute. In an informal Internet survey conducted by the Czech daily Lidové noviny, 65 percent of respondents were opposed to the cathedral going to the Catholic Church. But Zaoral isn't too surprised. "The Czech Republic is a very secular country," he says. "Such a stance is to be expected." — Petr Kašpar contributed to this report.