Jan Graubner (born 29 August 1948) is a Czech prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been appointed Archbishop of Prague. He was Archbishop of Olomouc in the Czech Republic from 1992 to 2022, after serving as an auxiliary there for two years.

Biography

Jan Graubner was born in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

in 29 August 1948. He graduated from high school in

Strážnice Strážnice (german: Straßnitz) is a town in Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Ety ...

in 1967 and then became an engineering worker in

Považská Bystrica Považská Bystrica (; german: Waagbistritz; hu, Vágbeszterce) is a town in northwestern Slovakia. It is located on the Váh river, around 30 km from the city of Žilina. It belongs to Upper Váh region of tourism. Profile Považská B ...

, then called Gottwald. In 1968 he was admitted to the Major Seminary of Olomouc. On 23 June 1973 he was ordained a priest for that archdiocese. From October 1973 to September 1975 he carried out his military service while also working as a chaplain in

Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; german: Zlin) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 73,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice river. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of th ...

at the same time. From 1977 to 1982 he was chaplain in

Valašské Klobouky Valašské Klobouky (; german: Wallachisch Klobouk) is a town in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,900 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (C ...

. From 1982 to 1990 he was administrator of the Parish of

Vizovice Vizovice (; german: Wisowitz) is a town in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Administrative part ...

, with responsibility for the pilgrimage site of

Provodov Provodov is a municipality and village in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 800 inhabitants. Provodov lies approximately south-east of Zlín and south-east of Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag ...

and the parish of Horní Lhota near

Luhačovice Luhačovice (; german: Luhatschowitz) is a spa town in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,000 inhabitants. It is known for the largest spa in Moravia. The town centre with the spa infrastructure is well pr ...

. On 17 March 1990 he was appointed

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 Tagaria and auxiliary bishop of Olomouc. He received episcopal ordination on the 7 April. On 28 September 1992 he was promoted to

Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a ty ...

of Olomouc. Since 1991 he has been president of Czech Catholic Charity. He was president of the Czech Episcopal Conference from 2000 to 2010 and was elected to another term in 2022. He has also been president of its Commission on Charity and delegate for the Missions. In 2008, he received the

Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk The Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk ( cz, Řád Tomáše Garrigua Masaryka) is an Order of the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1990 after the Velvet Revolution, and re-established in 1994 (following the dis ...

from former President

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...

for outstanding merits in the development of democracy and human rights. In 2020, he contracted the Covid virus and came close to dying. On 13 May 2022,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed him Archbishop of Prague. He was installed there on 2 July. His appointment was surprising because he is so close to retirement age and he has never worked outside of

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Th ...

Priestly sexual abuse

In 2000, a student at Palacký University of Olomouc Saints Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology filed criminal charges against both Graubner and one of his priests,

František Merta František Merta (born 1951) caused a scandal in the Czech Republic in 2000 when, while serving as a Catholic priest in the Olomouc Archdiocese, he was convicted of indecent assault of 20 boys dating back to 1995. Scandal Merta was accused by a the ...

. It accused Merta of sexual abuse of minors in the 1990s and Graubner of failing to report charges of abuse to the police, transferring him instead to another parish. A civil court found Merta guilty and he received a suspended sentence of two years in prison. Graubner has said he reassigned Merta because the case against him was inconclusive.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graubner, Jan 1948 births Bishops of Olomouc Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Europe 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Czech Republic. 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Czech Republic. Czech people of German descent Clergy from Brno Living people Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk