We are back in Prague, in the Czech Republic, in Central Europe. Between 1627 and 1781, only one faith was allowed here, the Catholic faith. Jews were tolerated here. It was not until 1781 that four other faiths were allowed. It was not until 1848 that religious freedom began.
However, the Catholic religion remained dominant. That is why there are relatively few Orthodox churches. Although after 1918 Orthodox churches began to increase.
In 1918 the Habsburg Empire was dissolved. The Catholic Church and the Habsburg throne were too intertwined. After the end of the monarchy, millions of believers, including priests, left the Catholic Church.
A new national church - the Czechoslovak Church (Hussite) was founded in Czechoslovakia in1919. But the very next year it began to disintegrate. Part of this church joined the Orthodox Church.
During World War I, hundreds of thousands of Orthodox prisoners from Serbia, Montenegro and the Russian Empire reached our territory.
After the war, hundreds of thousands of Austrian prisoners of Czech origin returned to us. Some went through the Czechoslovak volunteer legions. Some converted to Orthodoxy, some brought Orthodox wives.
Meanwhile, Russia has become a communist country. Those who had sense and could, emigrated. Czechoslovakia became one of the destinations to which emigrants fled. Germany was ruled by a marshal, Poland by a general, Hungary by an admiral. And in Czechoslovakia, a professor of sociology became president.
We treated the emigrants kindly. We understood that they were the elite of Russian society at that time, that they would enrich us with their presence.
Karel Kramář became the first Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia. He married a Russian woman and converted to Orthodoxy. It's no wonder that Orthodox churches began to be built in our country at that time.
Mr. Kramář and his wife are buried in the crypt of this Orthodox cemetery church in Olšany Cemetery.
Did you notice that I went around the church while I was talking?
Before the war in Ukraine began, about 300,000 Ukrainians lived and worked in Bohemia (population 10 million). During the first months of the war about 500 thousand more came to us. Half of them continued on to the West after some time. Today there may be about 500-600 thousand Ukrainians in our country, mostly Orthodox.
Orthodox churches do not have the capacity to handle the number of believers. That's why I went for a walk around the church just morning, right after the cemetery opened. A few hours later, I wouldn't have been able to squeeze that close to the church through the crowds.
Thank you for reading, thank you for any support.
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