Benedict XVI confronts the ghost of Jan Hus

"Summoned to the Council of Constance to face charges of heresy, Hus refused to recant and was executed on July 6, 1415."

The reality was worse than John describes. Hus had been promised safe passage to the Council of Constance. Of course he was burned anyway. Hussites would be persecuted and burned at the stake for years to come.

With Jan Hus the RCC got a wake up call for the coming Protestant Reformation a century early. The church leaders hit the snooze button. The RCC has paid the price ever since.

Steve

I am a lifelong Catholic, who for the past 12 years have been privileged and honored to served as the founding CEO of the Moravian Ministries Foundation in America, a ministry of the Northern and Southern Provinces of the Moravian Church in America.

Moravians trace their roots directly to Jon Hus and consider him their spiritual founder. Since coming to the US over 350 years ago, Moravians have had a profound, but quiet impact on our country and Christianity. They were among the original settlers of Bethlehem, PA. They founded the 6th oldest college in America - Moravian College. They also settled what is now Winston-Salem, NC and founded the oldest women's college in America - Salem College. Moravians also played a critical role in John Wesley's faith journey on his voyage to Savannah, GA. More importantly, they brought their faith, without persecution, to Native Americans and were the first missionaries to the Islands of the Caribbean. In fact, Moravian missionaries accompanied and ministered to the Cherokees during what is called the "Trail of tears." And there is more....

From my experience, despite OUR treatment of Hus, they harbor no anti-Catholic feelings. In fact, their motto "In essential unity, non-essential liberties, but in all things, love" is something I see and experience everyday. While I am sure they would enjoy a warmer and deeper relationship with the Catholic Church and would welcome a clearer statement on Hus's murder by the Church (Let us keep in mind, the Pope promised Hus safe passage, but proceeded to have him killed) - as a Cathlolic I am offended by the Pope's lack of appropriate response.

In particular the statement, "the pope’s calculation seemed to be that the best way for Catholics and the spiritual sons and daughters of Jan Hus to overcome their troubled past is to concentrate on common efforts in the here-and-now" is very troubling theologically. As Catholics, Penance is a sacrament. We are told by the Church to repent for our sins. Therefore, the Pope, as the leader of Church, should ask for forgiveness from the followers of Hus for our murdering him - and not treat this a political matter.

Once again, my Church has fallen short and makes us all look small and un-Christian-like..

Let us not forget that the Hussites also defaced the image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, and were involved in other violent attacks on Catholic property.

I am a French catholic and I come back from Prag where I had the pleasure to attend Stara Bodeslav mass (it was great and emotional although most attendants were foreign - Poles, Germans and Slovacs -) and meet John Allen.
Our generous, intelligent and cultured pope is poorly advised; After his error in Ratisbonne on islamic violence, his errors in Africa on condom and aids, he made 3 errors in Prag:
1 - His first visit was to Our Lady of the Victory. This church is the symbol of contra-reform. It celebrates the victory of the French & German catholic coalition against the Czech army haded by both catholic and protestant nobles; many of them were executed and all protestant properties were confiscated. In fact it is a defeat of the Czech nation which deasappeared for 300 years. A German pope celebrating a mass at that place is a mistake.
2 - At the meeting with the oecumenical council, Dr Pavel Cerny reminded the Pope of the move made by John Paul II towards Jan Hus by recognising the crual treatement un justified. Every Czech understoods that it was an appeal for th Pope to go farther towards the rehabilitation of Jan Hus. Instead the Pope spoke of 2 unknown saints Adalbert and Agnes who supposedly "worked hard to promote the Gospel in Czech land". In fact it was Jan Hus who, against the Catholic hierarchy translated the Gospel into Czech for the first time so that the people could know the Holy Scripture.
3 - Benedict XVI spoked twice of "Veritas Liberavit" although every Czech knows that Hus moto is "Veritas Vincit" (Pravda Vitézi) and he was condemned on lies of Catholics prelates that Rome never denied. Its up to Benedict XVI to promote Veritas and to rehabilitate John Hus. All the Czechs compare John Hus trial to Slansky Prag's trial in 1952 where 11 Czech official were condemned to death and Arthur London, ministry of foreign affairs who wrote the book about the lies and anti-semitism of the Czech communist party was condemned to life prison. The Czech ask for the truth not only in hopes but in acts by the Pope.

Check out the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Jan Hus - it justifies his burning because this was the 13th century German law - heresy is to be punished by burning - and claims that the safe conduct by Emperor Sigismund did not apply to the Church. The official position seems to be that Hus deserved his barbaric "punishment."
Of course, the background is the Czech-German disputes at the University of Prague. When King Vaclav gave the Czechs 3 votes and the Germans one (previously, Czech, Polish, Bavarian and Saxon "nations" all had a vote), the Germans were fed up, left the Prague University, and founded one at Leipzig. Politically, the Hussites represent conflict between Czechs and Germans.

Dear Friends,

Jan Hus was a life-long Catholic who venerated the Blessed Virgin Mary very highly, especially her Assumption into Heaven. He died largely because of political intrigues which used his reforming religious language against him (not to mention outright untruths about what he taught).

His followers included the Taborites (who were Calvinistic and who did destroy religious images, including the desecration of the Black Madonna of Poland), but mostly Calixtines/Utraquists who were exactly like the Roman Catholics of their day, except that they offered Communion in both Kinds to those who wished to receive it "sub utroque" (it was never a necessity, as later RC polemics insisted). The Utraquist Church also had married clergy and services in the language of the people. It also, interestingly enough, had its own saints and martyrs which it celebrated with fasting and liturgical prayer, including: Sv Mistr Jan Hus, Jerome of Prague, George Podebrady, and the martyrs of Kutna Hora where Hussites were thrown alive down a gorge etc. July 6th was always celebrated as Jan Hus Day and with fasting. Every other village in Bohemia, it was said, had a public statue of Jan Hus at that time. Liturgical services were composed in Hus' honour as well. Hus' connection with the Cyrillo-Methodian movement led to the spread of his fame to other lands, including Ukraine in the 19th century where the Ukrainian national bard, Taras Shevchenko, wrote these lines in honour of Hus:

Accept my poem in honour
of the Holy Czech
the Great Martyr
the Glorious Hus!

It is to be hoped that one day the RC Church can completely exonerate Hus and number him at least among the local saints.

The Czech Orthodox Church has found that Hus' associate, Jerome of Prague, became an Orthodox Christian in Latvia on his travels there and they have found his Orthodox baptismal certificate - Jerome could be canonized an Orthodox saint as a result. But the Czech Orthodox Church does formally commemorate Hus and the Hussite martyrs liturgically already.

Alex