Evening star., 1951-03-11
beran Banished, ,
Fined byCzechs;
Priest GetsPost
Archbishop Ordered
To Live Outside of
Prague Archdiocese
BY the Associated Press

PRAGUE, CZechoSlovakla, Mar.
10.-The Communist government
announced tonight it had banished
Archbishop Josef Beran, Catholic
primate of CzechoSlovakia, from
the seat of his archdiocese because
of his negative attitude to church
laws" He has been replaced by
patriotic and democratic" pa
ish priest.
Archbishop Beran. a foe of any
interference by the Communist
government in church matters.
was ordered by the State Office
for Church Affairs to live outsioe
his Prague archdiocese and to pay
a fine The announcement did MT
state the amount of the fine,
whether the primate had been re-
moved from Prague, or his present
whereabouts.
No Word for 13 Months.
The archbishop was punished by
the administrative penal organs,
a kind of court. under the ad-
ministrative penal law, the an
Inouncement said. The news was
released by the official Czech
news agency and broadcast by the
official Prague radio.
While there has been no word
directly from the 62-year -old
primate for 13 months, the gov
ernment announcement appeared
to have quieted, at least temporar-
lily, rumors that he might be tried
like the .primate of Hungary,
Josef Cardinal Mindszenty, who
was sentenced to life imprison-
ment. At the same time it seemed
to indicate that Archbishop Beran
had not ceased his resistance to
government moves against the
hierarchy
CThe National Catholic We'll
fare Conference Information
Bureau in Washington said last
December that it's sources had
confirmed reports the arch
bishop had been taken from his
residential palace and i'm
| priSoned0
Last Letter in February, 1850.
Archbishop Beran has not been
seen outside his 150-room 10th
Century hilltop palace in Prague
since June, 194s. when he went
into seclusion and was reported
under virtual house arrest. FIRE.
i quently he sent out letters to his
i parish priests, but there has been
no such letter since February,
j 1850.
The Government announcement.
accusing the ,prelate of having
shown an "unco- cooperative. atti-,
tude," disclosed that the metro
politan chapter, or priests organi-
zation of st. Vitus' Cathedral.
the archbishop's seat, had received
the resignation of the primate's
vicar general. DR.. Bohumil Opa-
trny. at a meeting Thursday. The
chapter then unanimously elected
Father Antonin Stehlik, a rela-
lively unknown parish priest. as
vicar capitular for the Prague
archdiocese. This meant that
Father Stehlik had been placed
in charge of the archdiocese, since
the capitular title is applied only
to person who takes over a
vacant see pending the selection
of a new archbishop.
Selection Hailed.
The news agency said the elec-
ton of Father Stehlik had taken
place under the Craftsmanship of
Archbishop Beran's own suffragan
bishop, DR.. Antonin Eltschker,
adding:
1T is therefore possible to call
this act of the ST, Vitus Chapter
happy step which will surely be
new aid for good cooperation
between state and church"
The principal church law which
the Communists have adopted and
to which the announcement re-
ferred puts priests. in effect, in the
pay of the state and gives the
state oversight of church admin
istration, property. communica-
tions and appointments.
Father Stehlik was formerly
parish priest of St. Anthony's in
Holesovice, a Prague suburb. His
appointment has the approval of
the state Office for church affairs,
headed by Communist Deputy
Premier zdenek Fierlinger. 1t is
this Office which has taken over
most of the affairs of the Catholic
church, over the opposition of the
Czech hierarchy and the protests
OF the Vatican. All appointments
to church posts now must be ap-
proved by Fierlinger's Office.
"The new vicar capitular, said