Josef Beran

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His Eminence

Josef Beran

Pontifical Urbaniana University
MottoEucharistia et labor ("Eucharist and labor")
Coat of armsJosef Beran's coat of arms
Sainthood
AttributesCardinal's attire
Styles of
Josef Beran
Prague
Ordination history of
Josef Beran
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained by
Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecratorSaverio Ritter
Co-consecratorsMoric Picha
Antonin Eltschkner
Date8 December 1946
PlaceSaint Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czechoslovakia
Cardinalate
Elevated byPope Paul VI
Date22 February 1965
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Josef Beran as principal consecrator
Joseph Matocha2 May 1948

Josef Beran (29 December 1888 – 17 May 1969) was a

cardinalate in 1965.[1][2][3]

Adam Beran was imprisoned in the

communist regime saw him imprisoned and placed under house arrest. His release in 1963 came with the condition that he could not perform his episcopal duties and he was later exiled to Rome in 1965 as part of a coordinated deal between the church and the national government.[1][3]

His cause for canonization opened in 1998 and he became titled as a

Saint Vitus Cathedral.[1][4]

Life

Education and priesthood

Josef Beran was born in

godparents were Josef Beneš and Rozálie Benešová.[3] Beran's siblings (in order) were his brothers Jaroslav, Karel and Slavoj and his sister Marie. His father's earnings were meager. Beran thought about learning medicine but a religious instructor at his school thought that he would make a fine priest and so used his influence to secure him a position for ecclesial studies.[4]

Beran commenced his ecclesial studies in Plzeň from 1899 to 1907 (graduating with distinction in June 1907) and later at the

Charles College in 1932. Pope Pius XI later named him as a monsignor on 11 June 1936.[2]

Beran ensured that Pius XI's document

Nazis seized the moment insisting Beran broadcast on radio the announcement of the cardinal's death. The Nazis made him do this and placed Beran near the top of the list of "religious radicals".[4]

Registration form of Josef Beran as a prisoner at Dachau Nazi Concentration Camp

At the beginning of June 1942 he announced he would celebrate a

typhoid epidemic in 1943 almost killed him but he rallied from it and remained there until 29 April 1945 after Allied forces liberated the camp.[3] Upon his immediate return to Prague the President of Czechoslovakia Edvard Beneš
decorated him with the Iron Cross and the medal of Hero of the Resistance - the two highest honors the nation had.

Episcopate

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On 4 November 1946 he was appointed as the

co-consecrators
.

The election of

schismatic the Communist government-approved Czech Catholic Action.[9] On 19 June 1949 he was placed under house arrest and complained of being "deprived of all personal freedom and all rights as the archbishop".[10]

He was convicted in a show trial and his house arrest - confining him to the archiepiscopal residence - ended on 7 March 1951. On 10 March he was taken from Prague with few knowing his precise location. In that period he was first taken to a villa near Liberec before being sent to Mištěves and Hořice. He was then sent to Paběnice and Mukařov near Prague. On 4 October 1963 before going to Radvanov. His release came in 1963 and he was forbidden to perform his ecclesial duties; this lasted until his relocation to Rome in 1965.[3] During his time in imprisonment he resisted regime pressure to resign from his see. In May 1961 the pope sent him a letter to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his ordination. But the letter was sent back to the pope with the words "without delivery". To that end John XXIII published the letter in L'Osservatore Romano.[2] It was a widespread rumour that Beran was one of the three prelates that Pope John XXIII elevated into the College of Cardinals reserved in pectore on 28 March 1960; the pope's death in 1963 meant that it was never known if that was indeed true since the pope did not reveal the names of those reserved.[1]

Cardinalate and exile

Monument.

Beran was impeded from exercising his episcopal duties upon his release and offered his resignation to the pope on numerous occasions despite such resignations being refused each time. Beran later went to live in Rome on 17 February 1965 in exchange for governmental concessions to the Church following negotiations in late 1964 that saw the appointment of new bishops and an

apostolic administrator for the Prague archdiocese due to Beran's negotiated exit. He knew going to Rome was an exile and tried to resist at first. But Beran relented for the good of the Czech Church and the progress that had been made.[2][3][11]

United States of America where he received several honorary academic citations. In 1968 the pope sent him a letter in Latin to commemorate his 80th birthday. In 1969 he gave an address on Vatican Radio in response to the suicide of Jan Palach. Beran disapproved of his suicide but highlighted Palach's ideals. His address drew some criticism.[2]

Death

Beran's original tomb in Saint Peter's Basilica until 2018.
Beran's remains transported to Prague in 2018.

Beran died from

Saint Peter's Basilica in the chapel of the Bruised Madonna after Paul VI celebrated his funeral. Upon his death Cardinal Franjo Šeper referred to Beran as "the second Saint Adalbert".[citation needed
]

Burial and re-interment

Beran's last will expressed his desire to be buried in Prague but this never materialized after his death because the Czechoslovak communist government forbade his remains to be brought in.[4] This changed in 2018 after Pope Francis permitted the transfer of the late cardinal's remains to Prague which occurred on 20 April with Cardinal Angelo Comastri overseeing it. A permanent plaque was put in place of his old tomb to commemorate Beran and the small bag of earth buried with him was also sent back to his homeland. His coffin was then transported to the Pontifical Neopomucenum where he lived in Rome for a short gathering with the Czech Culture Minister leading the Czech delegation. His remains were then buried on 23 April in the Saint Vitus Cathedral in the Saint Agnes of Bohemia chapel.[13][14][3][1] The translation of his remains came after the cardinal's relatives and Cardinal Dominik Duka requested it of the pope.[citation needed]

Monument

Cardinal Miloslav Vlk blessed the foundation stone of a memorial to Beran unveiled on 13 May 2009 in Prague. The cardinal underlined that "truth" and fairness" were integral aspects to Beran's life. Present at the unveiling were Archbishop Karel Otcanasek and the archdiocesan vicar-general Fr. Michael Slavik.[15]

Beatification process

The beatification process for Beran was introduced on 9 February 1998 after the

apostolic nuncio Giovanni Coppa present.[3]
The diocesan process was later closed on 17 May 2018.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Salvador Miranda. "Consistory of February 22, 1965 (I)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Beran, Josef". New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Servo di Dio Josef Beran". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Larry Peterson (9 January 2018). "Czech cardinal who survived Nazi death camp's "clergy barracks" is finally going home". Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  5. TIME Magazine. 24 October 1949. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  6. TIME Magazine. 11 October 1963. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  7. ^
    TIME Magazine. 23 May 1969. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  8. TIME Magazine. 30 May 1949. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  9. TIME Magazine. 4 July 1949. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  10. TIME Magazine. 29 August 1949. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  11. TIME Magazine. 29 March 1968. Archived from the original
    on September 30, 2007.
  12. TIME Magazine. 1 October 1965. Archived from the original
    on July 13, 2007.
  13. ^ "Cardinal Beran's remains to return to Prague on April 20 | Prague Monitor". 7 March 2018. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Cardinal Beran's remains buried in St Vitus Cathedral | Prague Monitor". 24 April 2018. Archived from the original on 29 August 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Memorial of Cardinal Josef Beran will be erected in Prague". Czech Bishops' Conference. 14 May 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2018.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Archbishop of Prague
4 November 1946–17 May 1969 		Succeeded by
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