Evening star., 1949-06-01
Prague Archbishop
Sees No Value in
Further Red Talks
by the ksseeiatsd Press

IuIIlICI NCu IojkS
by the Associated Press :
PRAGUE. Czechoslovakia. June
i.-Archbishop Josef Beran said
today any further negotiations be-
tween the Roman Catholic Church
and the Czechoslovak government
would be superfuous and In vain"
This Is 50, the archbishop said,
since a cabinet minister has stated
that only state schools on Marxist
Lines will be allowed In this country.
He charged that the government
thus had slammed the door on
further peace talks and voiced new
and far-reaching threats Of excom-
munication against Catholic col
laborators" with the government.
Private Letter to Clergy.
: Archbishop Beran's warning was
, contained In private letter to his
clergy. Contents of the letter be-
came known as the second issue
of the governments Gazette for
Catholic Clergymen" printed an
ordinance which clearly showed the
state would try to control the
assignment Of priests and other
church personnel to pastorates-I
especially the richer ones.
The archbishop previously had
told his clergy to ignore and dis
obey the contents of the oficial
gazette. Church gazettes have
been banned.
Archbishop Beran's warning was
the sternest he has issued In the
rising religious conflict here. His
letter said three newspapers are
forbidden in or near any Catholic
Church.
One Of these is the Peoples
Party newspaper Ldova Demok-
racie of Prague, which before the
Communist purges in 1948 repre-
sented the 5000. 600 Catholics in
Czechoslovakia and their govern
ment representatives. The others
are Lidova Obroda in Slovakia
and the Christian Women, pub
Iished at Brno.
Tells Clergy to Stand Fast.
In a fervant appeal to his clergy
to stand fast the archbishop said:
II am confident that you will
not sell your dignity as q priest
for 80 pieces of silver and that
you will not betray Christ"
Again the archbishop listed re-
strictions Of the Communist gov
ernment on Roman Catholic ac-
tivities.
"All church schools are nation
alized," he wrote.
"All Catholic papers are stopped.
Pilgrimages are forbidden. Pro-
cessions are not allowed. There
are no answers on memoranda.
complaints, protest, requests.
Priests who have 40 acres of land
are branded as bad farmers de-
spite the fact they used to be
the best in the village. Peasants
who refuse to accept the lands
seized from rectories are branded
as saboteurs and threatened with
severe punishment. ss. "a. q
1T Is commonly known that In
oil publishing houses. all Catholic
books were confiscated and de-
stroye6."
Minister'S Statement Cited.
Archbishop Beran's letter re-
ferred to q statement made by
Vaclav Kopecky. minister Of In
formation and Enlightenment at
the Communist Party's political
victory" congress last week. Ko-
pecky said there could beSno mis-
take: The state would direct all
education. and all education as
well as other activities had to be
directed along Marxist-Leninist
lines.
Referring to Kopecky's state
ment, the archbishop said:
After this proclamation. each
dtVCA11PU 4O1 1lCS0CldGAOllo WOu4u VIC
superfluous and in vain. The
Catholic church cannot give upI
rights on education of it's youth.
No Christian religion can give up
this right"
Decree Published in Gazette.
Today's issue Of the official
Gazette for Catholic Clergymen
contained a decree by the Educa-
ton Ministry which said no an
nouncement on Catholic admin
istration or personnel would be
valid legally unless 1t was pub
lished in the government publica-
ton.
Another ordinance Of the min
istry requires that any vacancy
of a clergymen's post must be re-
ported to the regional national
committee. These are the execu-
tive bodies which carry out
throughout the country the orders
of the government in Prague.
Opium Rotioned to Addiets