Václav Malý (born 21 September 1950 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

) is a Czech

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

priest and a prominent persona of the 1989

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

. He is a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of Marcelliana and auxiliary bishop of Prague.

Early life

Václav Malý studied at the Roman Catholic Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty in

Litoměřice Litoměřice (; german: Leitmeritz) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. The town is the seat ...

(since 1990 part of the Roman Catholic Theological Faculty of the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , under ...

) from 1969 to 1976. He was ordained a priest on 26 June 1976.

Political activities

During the communist regime period in Czechoslovakia, prior to the

Velvet revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

in 1989, Václav Malý was a signatory of

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Jiří Něm ...

and, in 1978, a founding member of the Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Prosecuted. In January 1979, he was officially forbidden from exercising his activity as a priest and was imprisoned without trial from May to December 1979. From 1980 to 1989 he worked as a fireman and surveyor, while secretly continuing to minister as a priest and participating in the creation of a Catholic

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

. In 1989, during the Velvet Revolution, he was one of the main spokesmen for the

Civic Forum The Civic Forum (Czech: ''Občanské fórum'', OF) was a political movement in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, established during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The corresponding movement in Slovakia was called Public Against Violence ( Slovak ...

and a member of the opposition delegation during the negotiations with the government of

Ladislav Adamec Ladislav Adamec (10 September 1926 – 14 April 2007) was a Czechoslovak communist politician. Early life Adamec was born in Moravia on 10 September 1926. Career Adamec joined the Presidium in March 1987 and served as the prime minister o ...

. During the 4 December 1989 mass demonstration in

Wenceslas Square Wenceslas Square ( Czech: , colloquially ''Václavák'' ) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a tra ...

, he publicly read out the Civic Forum statement demanding free elections the following year and the immediate formation of a coalition government. In November 2021,

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

, the president of France, awarded Václv Malý with the highest French order of merit, the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

, for his personal commitment to human rights. Václav Malý received the order at the French Embassy in Prague.

Ecclesiastical career

Václav Malý was appointed auxiliary bishop of Prague on 11 January 1997.

References

External links

* 1950 births Living people People from Prague Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Czechoslovak Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Czech Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Czech Roman Catholic priests {{CzechRepublic-politician-stub