A Look Back to "Underground Church" in Czech Republic
(29 Sept 09 - RV) Father Jan Kofron was secretly ordained in the 1980s by the "underground
church" in the Czech Republic. After the fall of communism in Czech Republic, the
underground and the official church started to merge. The official church demanded
that the underground priests be formally ordained again. Fr. Kofron is the only married
priest in the Czech Roman Church. He was ordained in May this year by Bishop Vaclav
Maly. Fr. Kofron is a secretary to bishop Maly, and also works with elderly and ill
people. He told Emer McCarthy about how he and others practiced their faith in secret
during the 40 years of communist rule when the Church was forced underground.