On 1 October 2026 the district court in Litoměřice rehabilitated Cardinal Štěpán Trochta for the period from 19 July 1950 to 16 January 1953, when he was interned in the bishop's residence in Litoměřice.
On 1 October 2026 the district court in Litoměřice rehabilitated, at a public hearing, Cardinal Štěpán Trochta, the former bishop of Litoměřice, for the period from 19 July 1950 to 16 January 1953. During that time Trochta was interned in the bishop's residence in Litoměřice, where he was guarded by the State Security (StB). The court found the petition justified and granted it. Both the public prosecutor and the defence lawyer waived the right to appeal.[1][2][3]
Subject of the rehabilitation
Trochta had already been rehabilitated in 1968 for his later sentence of 25 years in prison; the internment in the residence was not covered by that rehabilitation. The internment restricted his movement to the grounds of the residence, although he was not under criminal prosecution; he was formally arrested only on 16 January 1953.[1][2][3]
The petition was filed by the public prosecutor's office on the initiative of Jan Kratochvil, director of the Museum of Czech, Slovak and Rusyn Exile of the 20th Century in Brno. According to the Litoměřice Diocese, Kratochvil said that Trochta had been a longtime friend of his family and that he considered it important to clear his name. The prosecutor's office requested documents from the Office for Documentation and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism.[1][2]
At the hearing the public prosecutor stated that the State Security had interfered in the cardinal's life intensively over a long period and had watched over him even in his sleep, because people at the bishopric had been tasked with monitoring him.[1][2]
Biographical details
After a year in custody, Trochta was sentenced to 25 years in a fabricated trial and was held in communist prisons. He was released under an amnesty in 1960 and then worked as a construction worker and maintenance man. After his rehabilitation in 1968 he resumed the office of bishop of the Litoměřice diocese, and a year later Pope Paul VI appointed him cardinal. He died on 6 April 1974 in Litoměřice.[1][2]
Related articles: Litoměřice
Chronology
- — The District Court in Litoměřice rehabilitated Cardinal Štěpán Trochta for the period from 19 July 1950 to 16 January 1953, when he was interned in the bishop's residence in Litoměřice. iDNES.cz Novinky.cz
Sources
- iDNES.cz — 1 October 2026
- Novinky.cz — 1 October 2026
- ČT24: regiony — 1 October 2026