Jan Graubner (born 29 August 1948) is a Czech

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the Catholic Church who has been

Archbishop of Prague The following is a list of bishops and archbishops of Prague. The bishopric of Prague was established in 973, and elevated to an archbishopric on 30 April 1344. The current Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague is the continual successor of the bi ...

since July 2022. He was Archbishop of Olomouc in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

from 1992 to 2022, after serving as an auxiliary there for two years.

Biography

Jan Graubner was born in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in 29 August 1948. He graduated from high school in

Strážnice Strážnice () is a town in Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,300 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, u ...

in 1967 and then became an engineering worker in

Považská Bystrica Považská Bystrica (; ; ) 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 Bystrica is situated in a fold of mounta ...

, 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; ; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 75,000 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 the modern city ...

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

Valašské Klobouky Valašské Klobouky (; ) 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 as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urb ...

. From 1982 to 1990 he was administrator of the Parish of Vizovice, with responsibility for the pilgrimage site of Provodov and the parish of Horní Lhota near

Luhačovice Luhačovice (; ) 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 and for architecturally valuable buildings designed by the architect Dušan Jurko ...

. 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 an ...

of Tagaria and

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

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

Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

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 () is an order (decoration), 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 dissolution of Czechosl ...

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 (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

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 ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

. Graubner is the Grand Prior of the Czech Republic Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

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. The student 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 Roman Catholic bishops of Olomouc Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the Czech Republic 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 Grand Priors of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre