Fathers Jan Bula and Václav Drbola were killed for their Catholic faith in 1951 and 1952, and are the first martyrs of the Czech Republic to be beatified.
After World War II, communism spread throughout much of Eastern Europe, igniting a fierce persecution of the Catholic Church that targeted priests in particular.
It didn't take long in Czechoslovakia (now Czechia, the Czech Republic), to experience the heavy hand of an atheistic government that wanted to hunt down and kill leaders of the Catholic Church in the country.
Catholic priests, Fr. Jan Bula and Fr. Václav Drbola, were arrested and killed for their faith and are now recognized officially as "martyrs of communism."
Cardinal Michael Czerny presided at the beatification ceremony on June 6, which was held in Brno in the Czech Republic. During his homily he said, "Blessed Jan and Václav call us not to sell truth for comfort or to avoid conflict, not to exchange faith for the approval of others, not to choose silence where witness should be given, not to sacrifice conscience for comfort, career, or conformism."
Fr. Jan and Fr. Václav are the first martyrs of the Czech Republic, though it is expected that there will be more priests, religious, and lay who will be beatified in the future.
Martyrs of Communism
Fr. Jan was born in 1920 and entered the diocesan seminary of Brno in 1938. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 29, 1945 and was initially assigned to work with young people.
However, when the communist regime took power in 1948, he was quickly in the crosshairs of the government. He was arrested on April 30, 1951, on false charges. He was linked to an uprising and was accused of inspiring an attack against communist officials.
Fr. Jan was then hanged in prison May 20, 1952.
Fr. Václav attended the same seminary as Fr. Jan, but was ordained to the priesthood on July 5, 1938. He was assigned to the parishes of Slavkov u Brna, Čučice and Bučovice.
After the communists took over, he was arrested on June 17, 1951. Even though he was in prison at the time, he was further charged with inspiring an attack on communist officials and was executed on August 3, 1951.
Both priests were persecuted and killed simply because of their Catholic faith, even though they were charged with false accusations.
Their example of courageous ministry during an oppressive regime remains an inspiration to many today.
