From church pulpits throughout Czechoslovakia, Roman Catholic priests last Sunday read a defiant, 4,000-word pastoral letter, delivered to them by couriers sent out from a secret meeting of the country's bishops. They read it despite nocturnal visits from the police, despite the warning of Communist Premier Zapotocky that further "antistate" activity would be met with arrests and trials. They were fortified with the words of their archbishop, Josef Beran, who remained in his Prague palace surrounded by armed plainclothesmen. "Do not allow yourselves to be intimidated by threats," he had written....
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
