Influential Czech cardinal who suffered for faith under communism passes away

Prague, Czech Republic, Nov 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Cardinal Dominik Duka, one of the last cardinals from former Czechoslovakia, passed away at the age of 82 on Nov. 4. He was known for his orthodoxy in the Catholic faith and his resistance against the communist regime that jailed him for religious activity.

With the death of Duka, the only living cardinal from Czechoslovakia is Michael Czerny, who emigrated to Canada.

Duka, born in 1943, was baptized Jaroslav but took the religious name Dominik when he secretly entered the Order of Preachers and was ordained a priest in 1970.

He taught other Dominicans, spread samizdat (the secret copying and distributing of literature banned by the state), and cooperated with people abroad, which was illegal during communist rule in Czechoslovakia. The regime jailed him for more than a year. 

According to a memorial letter by the master of the Order of Preachers, Father Gerard Francisco Timoner III, Duka “spent 15 months in the Plzeň-Bory prison, where he prayed with fellow inmates and strengthened them in their faith.”

In prison, Duka also became friends with Václav Havel, the future president of free Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic after 1989.

After the fall of communism, Duka helped negotiate an agreement on Church property restitutions. The communist regime had seized many Church holdings, and the settlement provided financial compensation from the state to Catholic institutions.

The Dominican was a bishop since 1998, served as a chairman of the Czech Bishops‘ Conference, and was archbishop of Prague from 2010 to 2022. Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal in 2012. Duka was also the author of various books.

The prelate was a well-known public figure who often went against the mainstream as he promoted Church teaching in a predominantly atheist and agnostic Czech Republic. Thus, he was necessarily considered both inspiring and provocative.

For example, the family was for him more important than elections or geopolitics. He warned that the breakdown of the family would lead to a mass of individuals who are easier to control by the state.

In one of many interviews for the media, he said that women were not aware they were manipulated by TV, radio, and in advertisements: “When was the last time I saw a movie in which there is a truly normal, harmonious family?” he said. Duka admitted there are problems in families, but “we all remember our family and childhood not because our parents sometimes argued, but because it was our environment. And a woman really plays a fundamental role.“

The Czech prelate opposed gender ideology and political efforts to replace the terms mother and father with designations such as “Parent A” and “Parent B.” 

“No one from Ukraine welcomes Parent B; people welcome mothers with children. Thus, the words ‘mom,’ ‘dad’ are completely natural for those children fleeing from Ukraine,“ he said in an interview in 2022.

Duka appreciated Pope Francis’ call for disarmament but added that “if we accept the vision that humans are intelligent apes,” any respect or tolerance may cease to exist, as “there are slightly different laws in the animal world.”

Some criticized the cardinal for being too close and benevolent to a few politicians — mainly to the ex-president of Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, who had been a communist. Others said Duka may have been too critical of mass immigration from countries other than Ukraine.

The last time he created a stir was in September, when he celebrated a Mass in Prague for the family of murdered U.S. political activist Charlie Kirk.

Duka once spoke about a controversy he was causing. He faced a dilemma about whether to partake in a March for Life, “because I am attracting the counter-demonstrators who use a vocabulary that children [present at the march] should not hear,” the cardinal said.

After his death, a few commentators said they appreciated Duka’s fighting spirit, his courage against communism, and his frankness. One Jewish community acknowledged Duka’s openness to interreligious dialogue and his fight against antisemitism.

His funeral Mass will be celebrated Nov. 15.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/267589/influential-cardinal-dominik-duka-who-suffered-for-faith-under-communism-in-czech-republic-dies