History, Memory, and Religion in the Czech Lands

8/18/2019 History, Memory, and Religion in the Czech Lands

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Czech and Slovak

Journal

of Humanities Anthropologia culturalis

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Czech and Slovak Journal of Humanities (CSJH ) is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal established in 2011 at Palacký UniversityOlomouc, one o the oldest Central European universities. Te journal is dedicated to various important fields o the humanities:history, philosophy, the visual arts, theatre & film (including V and radio), music, and cultural anthropology, with interdisci-plinary themes among these fields.Te journal is intended as a dialogue between the finest Czech and Slovak research and research abroad and as a orum whereinnovative approaches and current topics are discussed, as well as local themes and previously neglected research. CSJH is open toCzech, Slovak and international scholars and guarantees a air and accurate reviewing process. In order to reach an international

readership, CSJH publishes the majority o texts in English. Regular scholarly papers are particularly welcome, as well as book orconerence reviews, notices, research projects reports and other kinds o academic chronicle.

Editorial BoardGeorge Arabatzis, University o Athens, GreeceMichael Beckerman, New York University, USAMartin Baumann, University o Luzern, SwitzerlandPaul Richard Blum, Loyola University Maryland, USAIan Christie, Birkbeck, University o London, United KingdomYvetta Kajanova, Komenský University, Bratislava, Slovakiaatjana Lazorčáková, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech RepublicMarina Righetti, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy Rostislav Švácha, Palacký University, Olomouc / Academy o Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic

Zpracování a vydání publikace bylo umožněno díky finanční podpoře udělené Ministerstvem školství, mládeže a tělovýchovyČR Filozofické akultě Univerzity Palackého v rámci Institucionálního rozvojového plánu.

Chie editor: Jiří ŠpičkaEditor o this volume: Dušan Lužný Language editors o this volume: David LivingstoneResponsible editor: Jana Kreiselováechnical editor: Anna PetříkováGraphic Design: AH & Jiří K. Jurečka

Published and printed by Palacký University Olomouc, Křížkovského 8, 771 47 Olomouc, Czech Republicwww.vydavatelstvi.upol.cz, e-mail: [email protected]

ed. © Dušan Lužný © Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic, 2015

ISSN 1805-3742MK ČR E 19478

On the cover: Damaged statue o Jesus Christ at the abandoned section o village cemetery in Staré Sedliště, achov region(photo: Dušan Lužný).

Czech and Slovak Journal of Humanities is published three times a year in the ollowing sequence o numbers: Philosophica;Historica; Historia artium; Teatralia et cinematographica; Musicologica; Anthropologia culturalis.

ContactJiří ŠpičkaFilozofická akulta UPKřížkovského 10

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97

Jakub Havlíček

Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic

History, Memory, and Religion in the Czech LandsAbstract | The paper deals with the role of religion in the process of dening Czech nationalidentity. In the rst part it aims at dening a proper theoretical framework for describing

and analyzing the broad context of the topic. The second part of the paper consists in ap-

plying the theoretical framework to the subject of religion and national identity in modern

Czech history. The theoretical background is based on the combination of K. Dobbelaere’s

concept of secularization with the sociopolitical conict model as dened by P. S. Gorski.

The role of religious ideas, practices and institutions is transformed in the process of so-

cietal modernization and functional differentiation. New, non-religious worldviews are de-veloped. In the process of mutual interaction of secular worldviews with religion, religious

elements become an integral part of discourses within the developing subsystems of poli-

tics, education, economics, etc. It leads to the situation of the persisting importance of reli-

gious ideas at the societal level, where religious phenomena continue to be discussed. The

concept of Czech national identity incorporates religious elements under the conditions of

the religious monopoly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The anti-clerical or anti-Catholic

concepts of national history appear at a societal level, while people tend to embrace the

dominant form of religion connected to the state system at the individual level. Individual

religious affi liation reveals an increasing complexity with the end of the religious monopoly,

with the creation of the independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 and under the situation ofreligious pluralism. At the individual level the Roman Catholic Church continues to domi-

nate religious life of the Czechs, nevertheless the declared church membership gradually

decreases. Since religious phenomena have become incorporated into secular worldviews,

such as into the concept of national identity, religion persists at a societal level.

Keywords | Czech Republic – Modern History – National Identity – Religion – Roman Catho-lic Church – Secularization – Sociopolitical Conict Model

1 IntroductionIn this paper1 I will ocus on the role o religion2 in Czech society rom a diachronic perspective,in modern Czech history. My enquiry will be primarily concerned with organized, traditional

1 Tis research is supported by the Czech Science Foundation, research project “Continuity and Discontinuitieso Religious Memory in the Czech Republic” (“Kontinuita a diskontinuity v náboženské paměti v České repub-lice”), project No. 14-01948S.Te working version o the paper has been presented at the Tird International Conerence Re-InventingEastern Europe, organized by Te Association or Dissemination and Valorization o Academic Research, Berlin,Germany, March 28–29, 2014. Te draf o the presentation is available online: Jakub Havlíček, “History, Memory,

and Religion in the Czech Lands,” accessed June 18, 2015, http://euroacademia.eu/wordpress/wp-content/up-loads/2014/03/Jakub_Havlícek_History_Memory_and_Religion_in_the_Czech_Lands.pd.2 For the purpose o my paper, I apply the classical sociological definition o religion by Émile Durkheim.Religion is defined as: “(…) a unified system o belies and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say,


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98 History, Memory, and Religion in the Czech Lands |

orms o religion. It is thereore ocused on the Roman Catholic Church3 as the most importanttraditional religious organization in the Czech lands rom a historical and contemporary pointo view. Te paper examines the position o the Church in Czech society and is ocused on itspolitical and social influence in the modern history o Czech society. I will also examine howreligion in general and the Church in particular became involved in the discourse on Czech na-

tional and cultural identity, and thereore how and why the organized, traditional religion persistson the societal level o the Czech socio-cultural environment. Last but not least, my intentionconsists in defining the proper theoretical tools that allows or a treatment o the broad aspectso the topic o religion and national identity in modern Czech society.

For the purpose o my enquiry I will apply the three-level concept of secularization as designedby Karel Dobbelaere,4 classiying the phenomena connected to secularization according to so-cietal, organizational, and individual dimensions. In order to interpret the persistence o religiousphenomena on the societal level, I will apply the sociopolitical conict model ,5 an interpretativerame coined by Philip S. Gorski.6

In my paper I intend to urther develop my previous research on the topic o the position o

religion in modern Czech society. I ormulated certain basic principles o my research on thistopic in cooperation with Dušan Lužný in our paper “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic:Te Roman Catholic Church and the State”.7 Te paper deals primarily with the contemporarystate o religiosity in Czech society. Te main argument o our approach to the topic o religionin Czech society can be summarized as ollows: religion is not disappearing rom Czech societyand culture, and it becomes involved in public debates rom both historical and contemporaryperspectives. Te paper gives two significant examples o religion entering the public sphereo Czech society rom the contemporary perspective. It deals with the legal struggle over theownership o the Prague cathedral between the state and the Church, and it also examines thecase o the Church Property Restitution Bill: both cases can be perceived as widely discussed

examples o traditional religiosity entering the public sphere o Czech society afer the all o theCommunist regime in 1989. Both examples also reveal the persistent importance o religioustopics on the societal level in contemporary Czech society. As the analysis o the two casesclearly demonstrates, both cases are intimately connected with the attempts o the state and othe political representatives to control (or at least to take part in the control o) the discursivepractices constituting the cultural memory o the Czech nation.8 aking into consideration KarelDobbelaere’s model o the three levels o religion, progressive secularization o contemporaryCzech society can be observed on the individual level. Tis can be demonstrated with the data onaffi liation to specific churches and denominations and on church attendance. Tese indicators oreligiosity are rapidly decreasing in contemporary Czech society.9 Even though individual level

things set apart and surrounded by prohibitions – belies and practices that unite its adherents in a single moralcommunity called a church.” (Émile Durkheim, “Te Elementary Forms o Religious Lie,” [Oxord: OxordUniversity Press, 2004], 46).3 Hereinafer reerred to as “the Church”.4 Karel Dobbelaere, Secularization: An Analysis on Tree Level s (Brussels: Peter Lang, 2002).5 Hereinafer reerred to as “SPCM”.6 Philip S. Gorski, “Historicizing the Secularization Debate. An Agenda or Research,” in Handbook of the Socio-logy of Religion, ed. Michele Dillon (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 110–122.7 Jakub Havlíček and Dušan Lužný, “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic: Te Roman Catholic Church

and the State,” International Journal of Social Science Studies 1, no. 2 (2013): 190–204, accessed August 6, 2015,doi: 10.11114/ijsss.v1i2.145.8 Ibid.9 Ibid., 193–195.


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| Jakub Havlíček 99

o secularization can be considered relatively high, religion persists on the societal level. Severaltopics connected to religion are publicly discussed, becoming an important part o politics.10 Tepersistence o religion on the societal level can be explained rom the perspective o the concepto the collective memory,11 or religion can be perceived as “a chain o memory”12 that allowsor interpreting the past, understanding the present and oreseeing and planning the uture.13

Te tools allowing one to control the collective memory are, with no doubt, vital or both thepolitical and church representatives as an important means o social control. Tis is the reasonwhy religious themes still have considerable political potential.

It is now my intention to demonstrate the reason why religion continues to influence thesocietal level o Czech society: or this purpose the diachronic approach must be applied. Itallows or a description and urther analysis o the role (or roles) o the Church in the processo development o Czech national identity. Te persistence o religious themes on the societallevel o contemporary Czech society cannot be understood without a closer look at the historicalprocess o negotiation o the role (or roles) o religion in the collective memory o the Czechs: thediachronic analysis o this process constitutes the main topic o this enquiry. My inquiry thereore

ocuses on the historical process in which religion became integrated into the narratives on theCzech past, into the concepts o Czech national identity. Te purpose o my paper consists inanswering the ollowing question: what is the role o religion in the process o defining Czechnational identity? Tis is connected to other issues: what is the role o religion, o Christianity –and particularly o the Roman Catholic Church – in the narratives on the Czech past?

2 Theoretical Background and Method

2.1 The Concept of Secularization

Te topic o this paper cannot be treated without briefly explaining the topic o secularization.Secularization in its broadest meaning can be defined as the process in which religious think-ing, practice and institutions lose their social significance.14 I see the process o secularizationrather as the process o diachronic transformation o religious thinking, practice and institu-tions in modern societies. In my opinion, the idea o the “decline” o religion reflects the politi-cal project o “secularization thesis”: this is based on the notion o the advancement o reasonand science leading to the inevitable “decline” and disappearance o “irrational”, “superstitious”and “religious” in the uture o humankind.15 Te concept o secularization in social sciencesshould thereore be based rather on the perspective o transormation o religion together with

10 Ibid.11 Collective memory (Maurice Halbwachs, On Collective Memory [Chicago: Te University o Chicago Press,1992]) is connected to the membership in a specific social group which provides ideas and concepts that are tobe remembered, and – ofen even more importantly – to be orgotten. Te collective memory o a particularsocial group is, o course, constituted under specific historical circumstances. From this point o view (the col-lective memory is conditioned by specific historical context) the collective memory o a specific social groupcan also be considered as “specific” or “particular”: e.g. it allows us to speak about particular national culturalor historical memory.12 Danièle Hervieu-Léger, Religion as a Chain of Memory (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2000).13 Havlíček and Lužný, “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic,” 199.14

Bryan R. Wilson, Religion in Secular Society: A Sociological Comment (London: C. A. Watts, 1966), xiv.15 Havlíček and Lužný, “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic,” 192; Roman Vido,Konec velkého vyprávění?Sekularizace v sociologické perspektivě (Brno: Centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, Masarykova univezita,2011).


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the process o societal modernization and unctional differentiation o secular domains. As JoséCasanova puts it:

(…) the core and the central thesis o the theory o secularization is the conceptualization o the processo societal modernization as a process o unctional differentiation and emancipation o the secularspheres — primarily the state, the economy, and science — rom the religious sphere and the concomitantdifferentiation and specialization o religion within its own newly ound religious sphere.16

Within the context o Czech society and culture, the historical process can be observed withinwhich the religious sphere – the roles attributed to religious thinking, practice and institutions –is transormed together with the development o the secular domains o society.

From the historical and contemporary perspectives, Christianity can be seen as the dominantorm o religion in the Czech Lands. Various Christian churches and denominations – aboveall the Roman Catholic Church and Roman Catholicism – determine the religious lie o theCzechs, both rom the synchronic and diachronic point o view. In connection with the issue othe process o defining the national identity in the Czech Lands, the role o Christianity in generaland o the Roman Catholic Church in particular have been assessed and evaluated a numbero times by several authors.17 Certain authors embrace the idea that the contemporary shape oreligious lie in the Czech Lands results largely rom the processes o defining and re-producingthe national identity o the Czechs.18

As I will primarily pay attention to the role o the Roman Catholic Church in the processo defining Czech national identity, I will also examine various ideas connected to the role oChristianity in the debates on the national identity o the Czech people. For this purpose I willuse the method o historical analysis based on various resources: I will discuss statistical data onthe religious affi liation o the inhabitants o the Czech Lands, I will also examine certain literary

texts on the topic o religion, political essays and programmes and also secondary resources andscholarly writings on the topic o the historical development o religion in the Czech Lands. Tisanalysis allows us to understand the historical process o integrating religion into the concepto Czech national identity.

2.2 The Three-Level Model of Secularization

As we shall see, in the case o the Czech Lands the development o the social and cultural con-text within which religion can be situated is airly complex. In order to describe and analyse theprocess in which the roles o religion changes in modern societies, it is vital to find a theoretical

background allowing us to embrace the complexity o the process. From this point o view andor the sake o successully analysing the role o religion in Czech society, I have already pointedout19 the useulness o the theoretical model o secularization presented by Karel Dobbelaere.20 Since the process o secularization must be seen in its complexity as a multi-dimensional set ophenomena, Karel Dobbelaere introduces the ollowing three types or levels o secularization:societal, organizational and individual.

16 José Casanova, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago: Te University o Chicago Press, 1994), 19.17 See note no. 41.18 E.g. Zdeněk R. Nešpor “Ústřední vývojové trendy současné české religiozity,” in Jaká víra? Současná česká

religiozita/spiritualita v pohledu kvalitativní sociologie náboženství , ed. Zdeněk R. Nešpor (Praha: Sociologickýústav AVČR, 2004), 21–37.19 Havlíček and Lužný, “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic”.20 Dobbelaere, Secularization.


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Societal secularization can be seen as the result o the process o unctional differentiation,rationalization and development o social subsystems connected to modernization.21 Religionloses its exclusive unction o societal legitimization as competing non-religious, secular ideolo-gies or world-views are developed and popularized. New, non-religious institutions in charge odifferent social subsystems are established and the Church loses its control over the newly estab-

lished institutions,22

whether it is politics, education, health care and social services, economy orscience. o put it plainly: “Religion becomes one subsystem alongside others and loses its over-arching claim.”23 Te process o societal secularization brings about the polarization o religionand society, and the polarization is accompanied by a demonopolization o religious traditionsand leads to a pluralistic situation, in which religions have to be marketed.24

On the organizational level o secularization religious bodies themselves are driven to ration-alize. Tey adapt to the new pluralistic situation by organizational changes within themselves.25 Speaking o organizational secularization, Dobbelaere claims that the perspective on this topicshould be broadened. Inspired by Berger’s “Sacred Canopy”,26 Dobbelaere makes us aware thatreligion may bear the seeds o secularization within itsel.27 Dobbelaere emphasizes28 Berger’s

remark that the roots o societal secularization lie in the very Christian worldview, in the Biblicaltradition: rom this point o view, Christianity is seen as “its own gravedigger”.29

It is important to note that Berger’s and Dobbelaere’s notion on the “seeds o secularization”within a religious worldview can be easily reversed. As Christianity contained the roots o soci-etal secularization, the secular worldviews, such as national ideologies, bear within themselvesreligious themes. Te secular worldviews that are ofen openly and declaratively anti-religiouscome into being through the process o emancipation rom religious worldviews. From this pointo view it is not surprising that the secular worldviews encompassed and took over several topicsoriginally connected with religion.

On the individual level, according to Dobbelaere, the involvement o individuals in churches

and denominations declines: “Individual secularization reers to individual behavior and meas-ures the degree o normative integration in religious bodies.”30 Te liminal events o the indi-

vidual lie cycle such as births or burials cease to be sacralized and the individual tendency torejection o religious norms and practices increases.31

It is vital to emphasize that all three types or levels o secularization must be seen as recipro-cal, as mutually interconnected, and, according to Dobbelaere:

By distinguishing organizational secularization and individual secularization rom one another androm societal secularization, we are in a better position to study the empirical relationships between

21 Ibid., 24.22 Ibid., 29.23 Ibid., 24.24 Ibid., 35. Dobbelaere reers to Peter Berger who puts it as ollows: the pluralistic situation leads to a situa-tion in which: “(…) the religious tradition, which previously could be authoritatively imposed, now has to bemarketed. It must be ‘sold’ to a clientèle that is no longer constrained to ‘buy’.” See Peter Berger, Sacred Canopy:Elements of a Sociological Teory of Religion (Garden City: Anchor Books, 1967), 138.25 Dobbelaere, Secularization, 35.26 Berger, Sacred Canopy .27 Dobbelaere, Secularization, 35–38.28

Ibid., 37.29 Berger, Sacred Canopy , 129.30 Dobbelaere, Secularization, 25.31 Ibid., 23, 38–39, 137.


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societal secularization and organizational secularization; between societal secularization and individualsecularization; and between individual secularization and organizational secularization.32

My enquiry in this paper will be primarily concerned with the first, societal level o seculariza-tion rom the diachronic perspective, in connection with the concept o the nation and national

identity in the Czech Lands. I will also, however, briefly touch upon the subject o individual andorganizational levels o secularization.

2.3 Societal Secularization and Social Differentiation

At this point, it is important to note that in the process o societal secularization, religion becomesnot only one o the multiple subsystems, but also that the other, newly defined and develop-ing subsystems seek and define their ways to “negotiate” relations to the subsystem labeled asreligious. When perceived this way, it is impossible to examine the religious sphere withoutconsidering its relations and connections to the other spheres o the socio-cultural system.

Te religious domain must be examined in terms o its relations to the spheres o e.g. politics,economy, education, etc. In my paper, I will deal with the interaction o religion and politics inconnection to the topic o Czech national and cultural identity and in connection to the positiono religious ideas within the historical process o ormulating this identity (or rather identities).

alal Asad observes that modern nationalism quite naturally draws on pre-existing languagesand practices including, o course, those we can label as “religious”.33 Tis perspective allowsus to explain why religious ideas and concepts become discussed within secular nationalismand, perhaps, why nationalist ideologies ofen include elements and motis which originatedin religious systems. It is obvious that various socio-cultural domains, institutions, competingworld-views (both religious and secular), and their proponents, interact with one other. Teyinfluence each other reciprocally. Te process is airly complex obviously and, according to Asad,it would be inappropriate to simply assume that nationalism should be seen as religion, or thatit has been shaped by religion.34

Miroslav Hroch claims that historical phenomena such as various symbols, values, stereo-types, or historical narratives pre-existing the ormation o modern nations become integratedinto the process o nation ormation at the end o the 18th and in the 19th centuries.35 Hrochobserves that the very existence o such symbols, values, stereotypes or narratives has been in-dependent rom the wishes or plans o the actors involved in the process o nation ormation.Even though the so-called nationalists ofen apply such phenomena in their concepts o nation-building ideologies or political programmes, they re-interpret them and treat them in innovativecontexts, different rom the contexts in which such phenomena historically originated. From thispoint o view, it is not surprising that various phenomena originating in religious discourse arediscussed in connection with the process o nation building in the Czech Lands.

32 Ibid., 25.33 alal Asad, “Religion, Nation-State, Secularism,” in Nation and Religion: Perspectives on Europe and Asia, ed.

Peter van der Veer and Hartmut Lehmann (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999), 178–196.34 Ibid., 187.35 Miroslav Hroch, Národy nejsou dílem náhody. Příčiny a předpoklady utváření moderních evropských národů(Praha: SLON, 2009).


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2.4 The Sociopolitical Conict Model

For the purpose o my enquiry it is vital to examine the historical process o mutual influencesand relations between the religious and political sphere in the Czech Lands. In order to pur-sue such an analysis, a usion o sociological and historical perspectives is inevitable. Broadly

speaking, historians ofen ignore sociologists and vice-versa, but there are theoretical conceptsor models combining both approaches. For the purpose o my enquiry, the concept o the sociopolitical conict model (SPCM) can be applied. Te SPCM has been coined by Philip S. Gorskiand based on the works o David Martin and Hugh McLeod.36

Gorski sees the SPCM as an interpretative ramework elaborated by a loose-knit group oscholars rather than as a theoretical model in the proper sense o the word.37 Although the SPCMapplies a number o terms similar to the model o religious economies, such as “competition” or“pluralism”, their understanding o the terms is broader. It is understood rather as “a competi-tion o worldviews” and churches and denominations compete not only among themselves, butalso with secular, non-religious worldviews.38 For the purpose o the analysis o the relationship

between religion and political spheres, the SPCM seems to be promising, since it ocuses onthe competition arising rom non-religious movements rather than rom the other churches.Gorski summarizes the main argument o the SPCM as ollows:

In situations o religious monopoly, church and state will tend to become closely identified with oneanother, and social protest and partisan opposition will tend to evolve in an anticlerical or anti-Christiandirection; a high level o religious disengagement is the result. In situations o religious pluralism, bycontrast, in which some churches and church leaders are institutionally and politically independento the state and the ruling elite, opposition to the existing regime did not automatically translate intoopposition to the religion per se, and could even be expressed in religious terms; here, the degree oreligious disengagement is likely to be lower.39

In connection with the topic o this paper, one o the assets o the SPCM can be seen as par-ticularly promising: it is its emphasis on the relationship and influence o the complex socialsubsystems o religions and politics. David Martin writes on the isomorphism o politics andreligion,40 and the SPCM allows us to ollow the historical context o this isomorphism in general,not only within the context o the Czech Lands.

Afer summarizing the options o the theoretical approach to the topic, let us turn our atten-tion to the historical process o secularization in the Czech socio-cultural environment.

36 Gorski, “Historicizing the Secularization Debate”; David Martin, General Teory of Secularization (Oxord:Blackwell, 1978); Hugh McLeod, European Religion in the Age of the Great Cities, 1830–1930 (London: Rout-ledge, 1995); Hugh McLeod, Religion and Society in England, 1850–1914 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996).37

Gorski, “Historicizing the Secularization Debate,” 116.38 Ibid.39 Ibid.40 Martin, General Teory of Secularization, 47.


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3 Secularization in the Czech Lands from the Historical Perspective

3.1 Recent Scholarship on Religion and National Identity in the Czech Lands

It will not be possible to discuss here in details the scholarship on the topic o religion and

national identity in Czech society.

41

Let me mention, however, at least two o the most recentpublications treating this issue.In her recently published monograph on contemporary Czech society and religion, Dana

Hamplová treats the topic o “Czech ‘atheism’ and its specifics”.42 According to Hamplová, Czechsare particularly indifferent towards organized, institutionalized religions and this lack o concernis seen primarily as a result o Czech nationalism and its interpretation o the medieval Hussitereormation movement.43 Indeed, the question o interpreting the past and the role o the Hussitemovement constitutes a key element in the debates on Czech national identity. Nevertheless, the as-sertion o the secular character o the Czech society is oversimplified and even misguided. Not onlydoes religion preserve an important place in the public sphere o Czech society,44 but also, rom

a diachronic point o view, constitutes a pivotal element in the debates on Czech national identity.Another analysis o secularism in Czech society has been published by Petr Pabian.45 In hisarticle on the roots and orms o Czech secularism, Petr Pabian claims that Czech secularismis not a result o the process o constructing Czech national identity.46 In his “alternative storyo Czech secularity”, Pabian places an emphasis on the need to examine the inner conflictswithin the diverse segments o Czech society and also draws upon the work o David Martin.In my view, the role o the debates on religion in the process o defining Czech national iden-tity has influenced the position o religion within Czech society. Although I do not agree withPabian in this point, his analysis brings up another important asset, e.g. in its stress on the needto distinguish between the diversity o ideas and practices within Czech Catholicism itsel. Pa-

bian makes us aware o the existence o competing opinions on the role o religion in debateson Czech national identity.47 Unlike Pabian, I am convinced that the debates on religion in theprocess o defining Czech national identity strongly influenced the actual orm o Czech secu-larism. Nevertheless, it should be said that the role o “nationalization” o Czech society overthe course o the 19th and 20th centuries cannot be considered the one and only reason or thecontemporary orm o Czech secularism.

3.2 The Individual Level of Secularization from the Historical Perspective

At the individual level o secularization, a decline in declared religious affi liation to the Church

can be observed. According to the national censuses, the dominant religious affi liation in theCzech Republic at present is Roman Catholicism. In the most recent census o 2011, a totalnumber o 1,082,463 respondents declared their membership in the Church, that is almost 74%

41 Te historical context o the role o religion in Czech society has been discussed e.g. in the ollowing mono-graphs: Zdeněk R. Nešpor, Příliš slábi ve víře: Česká ne/religiozita v evropském kontextu (Praha: Kalich, 2010); PetrFiala, Laboratoř sekularizace. Náboženství a politika v ne-náboženské společnosti: český případ (Praha: Centrum prostudium demokracie a kultury, 2007); David Václavík, Náboženství a moderní česká společnost (Praha: Grada, 2010).42 Dana Hamplová, Náboženství v české společnosti na prahu 3. tisíciletí (Praha: Karolinum, 2013), 23–36.43 Ibid., 23.44

Havlíček and Lužný, “Religion and Politics in the Czech Republic”.45 Petr Pabian, “Alternativní příběh české sekularity,” Sociální studia 10, no. 3, (2013): 85–105.46 Ibid., 88–89.47 Ibid., 90–92.


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o all organized believers and 10,4% o the total population.48 As the statistical data reveal, thenumber o Church members has gradually decreased in the modern history o the Czech Lands.Te 19th century censuses demonstrate the overwhelming dominance o Roman Catholic be-lievers: the available data rom the period between 1869 and 1910 reveal that approximately 95%o the inhabitants o the Czech Lands ascribed to the Church.49 Tis situation can be clearly

perceived in connection with the existence o a religious monopoly in the Austro-HungarianEmpire. Te data on individual religious affi liation reveal a radical change with the origin o thenew independent Czechoslovak state in 1918, connected to the end o the monopoly and theestablishment o a pluralistic situation. Te membership in the Church dropped significantly toapproximately 82% o the total population in 1921 and to approximately 78% in 1930.50

Te relatively high level o secularity at the individual level has in all probability multiplereasons,51 and should without any doubt be seen in connection with the process o establishingCzech national identity and the struggles around Czech national and cultural sel-determination.From this perspective, the role o Christianity in general and o the Roman Catholic Church inparticular in the process o establishing the modern Czech nation and national state is worth

mentioning.

3.3 The Societal Level of Secularization from the Historical Perspective

Broadly speaking, the role o the Roman-Catholic Church in the process o establishing the Czechnation is evaluated as a rather negative one rom the point o view o the Czech nation builderso the 19th, and the beginning o the 20th centuries. Tis act has significant historical reasons.Te rigid state politics o the first hal o the 19th century sought or control over all spheres osociety, including religion. Te state prohibited the church administration rom direct contact

with the Roman Curia and priests were considered “state offi cials in churches”; rom the pointo view o the state, the Church ormed a special administrative unit controlling the spiritual lieo the imperial subjects.52 Te Austrian-Hungarian emperor Franz Jose I aimed at the “unity”or “alliance o throne and altar”, pursuing the politics o his predecessors.53

Te situation involving a de-facto religious monopoly led to the development o anti-clericalor anti-catholic sentiments amongst an important part o Czech intellectuals and political leaderso the 19th century. Te traditional concept o close cooperation between the Church and theruler maniested in close cooperation between the ruling House o Habsburg and the RomanCatholic Church. It came to be seen as a barrier or the development o Czech national identityand or the cultural, social and political emancipation o the Czech people. It was apparently

the opinion o a significant part o Czech society who perceived the Roman Catholic Church as“anti-Czech” and, in contrast, praised the tradition o the medieval Czech reormation movement(the Hussite movement) as one o the pillars o Czech national identity.54

48 “Sčítání lidu, domů a bytů 2011. Náboženská víra,” (Census o population and housing 2011. Religious be-lies) Czech Statistical Offi ce – Český statistický úřad , accessed February 20, 2014, http://vdb.czso.cz/sldbvo/#!stranka=podle-tematu&tu=30719&th=&v=&vo=null&vseuzemi=null&void=.49 Vladimír Srb, 1000 let obyvatelstva českých zemí (Praha: Karolinum, 2004), 160.50 Ibid., 161.51 Pabian, “Alternativní příběh české sekularity”.52 Jitka Lněničková, Čechy v době předbřeznové, 1792–1848 (Praha: Libri, 1999), 250–254.53

Hubert Jedin, History of the Church Volume IX. Te Church in the Industrial Age (London: Burns and Oates,1981), 55.54 Zdeněk R. Nešpor, Ne/náboženské naděje intelektuálů. Vývoj české sociologie náboženství v mezinárodníma interdisciplinárním kontextu (Praha: Scriptorium, 2008), 46–48.


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Even in the second hal o the 19th century and the beginning o the 20th century, it wasimportant to keep in mind the differences between Bohemia and Moravia. In Bohemia themeasure o ormal Catholicism and disrespect toward the Roman Catholic Church was consider-ably higher and stronger than in the Moravian part o the Czech Lands. Moravia still retains itsCatholic character, at least to a certain extent.55 Tis difference obviously represents an interest-

ing topic or urther research.It should be said that the nativists o the 18th century did not view the role o the Catholic

Church as negative,56 many o them being Catholic clerics and scholars themselves, and thisattitude does not particularly change in the first decades o the 19th century. Later, in the courseo the development o the Czech nationalist movement in the 19th century, the Roman CatholicChurch came to be perceived as a saeguard o the conservative, repressive powers preventingthe national development o the Czech people. In the understanding o the proponents o Czechnational identity, the conservative powers restricted the development o Czech national sel-awareness. Te Czech religious reormation and the Hussite movement o the 15th century cometo be stressed by a number o Czech thinkers as the most significant period o Czech national

history. One should mention here e.g. František Palacký (1798–1876), the so-called “Father o theNation” who can be seen as the ounding ather o the Czech national myth or omáš GarrigueMasaryk (1850–1937), known as the “President Liberator”, the first president o an independentCzechoslovakia. Both thinkers perceived the Hussite reormation as the most glorious periodo Czech national history.57 Although there were alternative views o the concept o Czech his-tory that did not evaluate the role o the Roman Catholic Church negatively,58 the anti-Catholicopinion prevailed.

Te anti-Catholic concept o Czech history can be summarized as ollows: afer the glo-rious period o the Hussite movement and the Czech reormation, the nation declined with theestablishment o the Habsburg monarchy, and particularly with the debacle o the Bohemian

Revolt against Habsburg rule in 1618–1620. Te subsequent Baroque period together with thegovernmentally supported dominance o the Roman Catholic Church is evaluated as the “theDark Age” o Czech national history.59

Tere is a quite clear historical image o the Roman Catholic Church in the collective memoryo the Czech people: the Czech nation is oppressed and exploited by the outdated, “corrupt androtten” Habsburg monarchy. As Karel Kramář (1860–1937), the first Czechoslovak prime min-ister, put it: “Te monarchy o Habsburg has collapsed like an edifice which was rotten insideand there was nothing to keep it standing.”60 In this reading, the Czech nation is oppressed byAustrians or “Germans” who are non-native to the Czech lands.61 Last but not least, the Czechnation is oppressed by the Roman Catholic Church, its clerics and prelates who are, in this in-

terpretation, connected with the other oppressive orces by providing them with legitimizationand cooperating with them.62

55 Fiala, Laboratoř sekularizace.56 František Kutnar, Obrozenské vlastenectví a nacionalismus. Příspěvek k národnímu a společenskému obsahučešství doby obrozenské (Praha: Karolinum, 2003), 84–86.57 Nešpor, Ne/náboženské naděje intelektuálů, 62–63.58 Miloš Havelka, Spor o smysl českých dějin. 1895–1938 (Praha: orst, 1995).59 Ladislav Holý, Te Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation. National Identity and the Post-Communist Socialransformation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).60 Karel Kramář, Pět přednášek o zahraniční politice (Praha: Pražská akciová tiskárna, 1922), 70.61 Jan Křen and Eva Broklová, eds., Obraz Němců, Rakouska a Německa v české společnosti 19. a 20. století (Praha:Karolinum, 1998).62 Dana Hamplová and Zdeněk R. Nešpor, “Invisible Religion in a ‘Non-believing’ Country: Te Case o theCzech Republic,” Social Compass 56, no. 4 (2009): 1–17.


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As Karel Havlíček Borovský (1821–1856), a popular Czech journalist, poet and politician,puts it in his satirical poem “Te Baptism o Saint Vladimir”:

For us any Lord God will do,As long as we have oneo keep the armersIn due respect.

With them all disciplineWill soon turn to mist and umeOnce they have no oneo pray or their sar.63

“Te Czech national myth” was created in accordance with these ideas and thus conceived in thedevelopment o the Czech nativist movement at the end o the 18th and particularly during the19th century. It became widespread with the creation o an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918.

Te slogan “Away rom Rome” was propagated by important proponents o the Czech politicalelite and this slogan merged with the antagonism towards the Habsburg dynasty.It is important to emphasize that the social and historical context o the last decades beore

the end o the Empire and beore the end o the religious monopoly was ar more complex. Asor the putative Catholic loyalty to the Habsburg monarchy, the actual situation at the end oWorld War I seems to have been much more complicated than ofen depicted. According to PavelMarek,64 it is vital to reflect on the diversity o opinions among representatives and memberso the Roman Catholic Church in the Czech Lands. Te high ranking members o the RomanCatholic clergy, bishops, etc. were mostly loyal to the Habsburgs. Te political representativeso Catholicism and regular members o the Church ofen agreed and sympathized with Czech

political parties. According to Marek, the thesis o “a pro-Habsburg” position by the RomanCatholic Church in the Czech Lands is oversimplified.65 Nevertheless the anti-Catholic senti-ments become more popular. As Ján Mišovič puts it in his account o the history o religion inthe Czech Lands: “Te motto o the period was: ‘Away rom Vienna, away rom Rome’.”66 It isimportant to emphasize that even though the politics o an important part o the Czech politicalelite has been, generally speaking, anticlerical, or rather anti-Catholic, it cannot be simply labelledas anti-Christian. omáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president o an independent Czechoslovakia,declared this in his well-known statement: “Jesus, not Caesar, I repeat, that is the purpose o ourhistory and democracy.”67

Te stereotypes were repeated and urther developed by the Communists afer they came to

power in 1948.68 Tey used and dispensed these ideas supplemented by the Marxist-Leninistpromotion o atheism. Te Roman Catholic Church was persecuted because o its “reactionary”and “anti-popular” character.69

63 Karel Havlíček Borovský, Stokrát plivni do moře (Praha: Československý spisovatel, 1990), 175. English trans-lation: courtesy o Pavel Drábek.64 Pavel Marek, České schisma. Příspěvek k dějinám reformního hnutí katolického duchovenstva v letech 1917–1924 (Rosice: Gloria, 2000).65 Ibid., 12–16.66 Ján Mišovič, Víra v dějinách zemí koruny české (Praha: SLON, 2001), 75.67 omáš G. Masaryk, Světová revoluce. Za války a ve válce, 1914–1918. Vzpomíná a uvažuje . G. Masaryk (Praha: Orbis a Čin, 1933), 608.68 Hamplová and Nešpor, “Invisible Religion”.69 Karel Kaplan, Stát a církev v Československu, 1948–1953 (Brno: Doplněk, 1993).


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4 Conclusion

As the example o the Czech socio-cultural environment reveals, the role o religion in modernCzech history has been ormed along with the process o defining Czech national and culturalidentity. It ollows the basic premises o the sociopolitical conflict model as defined by Gorski.70

Te application o the SPCM leads us to describe and analyze the process o secularization in itshistorical context, together with an analysis o mutual influences between the spheres o religionand politics. In a situation with a religious monopoly when the offi cial state politics de facto incor-porated the Roman Catholic Church into its power structures, the social protest connected to thedevelopment o the Czech national movement leads to anticlerical or anti-Catholic sentiments.On the societal level, competing worldviews are developed and they “negotiate” their relationshipto the Christian, i.e. Catholic worldview. Tereore certain religious ideas are incorporated intothe newly established concept o Czech national history, e.g. the importance o the Hussite re-ormation movement.71 Nevertheless, as the statistical data reveal, individual affi liation to RomanCatholicism prevails. With the radical change in the political environment accompanying the

end o the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and with the end o the religious monopoly, secularizationat the individual level becomes apparent. Te development o religious pluralism leads to a de-cline in individual affi liation to the Church which can be observed up to the present time. Tistendency has been urther enorced by the Communist regime with its oppression o religion ingeneral. Religious themes nevertheless prevail at the societal level: as it has become an integralpart o the narratives o Czech national history and continues to be discussed on the politicallevel even today. Te distinction o the levels o secularization by Karel Dobbelaere72 allows usto examine and analyze the differences in the process o secularization on the respective levels.It allows us to conceptualize the endurance o religious phenomena at the societal level, wherereligion continues to be discussed, and, at the same time, the decline o religious affi liation at

the individual level. Te sociopolitical conflict model as defined by Gorski makes us aware othe need to examine the process o secularization in its overall historical context, and analyzethe mutual relationship and influences o the religious and political domains.

Jakub Havlíček

Univerzita Palackého v OlomouciFilozofická akultaKatedra sociologie, andragogiky a kulturní antropologietřída Svobody 26

77900 Olomouc

e-mail: [email protected]

70

Gorski, “Historicizing the Secularization Debate”.71 Te limited extent o this paper does not allow me to treat the topic o the Catholic concept o Czech nationalhistory, e.g. the traditions connected to St. Wenceslas or the Saints Cyril and Methodius.72 Dobbelaere, Secularization.

Documents

History, Memory, and Religion in the Czech Lands