Anti-Catholicism runs deep here, rooted in 600 years of Czech history in which the Catholic church came to be identified with foreign domination. Since the fall of communism, he has emerged as a leading moral spokesman in his country, candidly addressing both the shortcomings of Czech democracy today and the public's complicity in 40 years of communist dictatorship. As founder and president of the Czech Christian Academy, an ecumenical civic association that promotes conferences and lectures for the public on a wide range of issues from theology and history to psychology and the natural sciences, he's been a tireless promoter of dialogue between the public and the political and intellectual elites. The Czech Republic needs a new kind of political culture, he says. Today the political structures of democracy are in place, but the mentality necessary for democracy is missing.
Democracy needs some moral biosphere.
But if being a priest has helped make him something of a celebrity in the country, or at least a curiosity, he says it's more often been a handicap. It's very important that he doesn't live in a virtual reality. He knows normal daily life. Historically, the intelligentsia has played a prominent role in Czech society. By tradition, the Czech president is not a party politician but a moral authority and thinker.