"So it opened up horizons for me tremendously that I hadn't known. I was more of a biologist and kind of a rationalist. And there it was something completely different, so the Society educated its members, again, not everybody liked that, I liked it. The education was maybe stage number one, but stage number two, and that was clearly seen there in the background, was that the gifts that we have, or the mission that we have, we have to give it away. So to go out, to put yourself at risk, to witness and to be evangelists, all that was very much present there. So it was a bit of an uncomfortable zone for many, maybe even for me. But I embraced it and I was quite active in it and I think it stayed with me."
"If it had been a kind of kind-hearted community, of which there were many, a meeting-friends society, that would be fine. Everybody would have felt good there, but it wouldn't have the mission. I use the word mission. And I would see that mission on two levels. One was directed inside the church, to sort of reform or expand the offer of the church. I say that maybe a little bit in a marketing way. But let´s say modernize the church or renew the church, that was mission number one. And mission number two was to shape public life on the basis of Christian values. Without these, let's say dictatorial practices, neither of those missions would have been accomplished. It would have been a nice community where people would have prayed, which is great, where people would have felt comfortable. But it wouldn't have had the range, and it was the range that interested me about it."
"It was negative (ed. note: parents' attitude towards the communist regime). My parents were openly against communism. My father was a member and for a long time the chairman of the People's Party in Brno-Rečkovice. But even there he was dissatisfied and critical and he was a bit of a rebel. So at home, in the family my parents always told us anti-communist things and openly what was going wrong. So I was clearly influenced by the family that communism was something bad. And then that was related to my choice of friends at secondary school and university. So we were definitely a family that didn't like communism."
Petr Blížkovský was born on 14 April 1963 in Brno-Rečkovice. He grew up in a family in which, according to him, the communist regime was discussed openly. Christian faith was an important part of his growing up. It was the faith that later led him to the Society of Saint Gorazd and Companions, which emphasized the Cyril and Methodius roots of the Christian faith and Moravian patriotism, and also acted as a so-called Christian dissent. It cooperated with the then hidden part of the church and organised anti-regime actions. However, from today’s perspective and in the context of the narrative of the time of totalitarian Czechoslovakia, the references made by some witnesses on the sectarian way of leading this community raise at least some doubts. Petr, however, is one of those who strongly disagree with the sect label in connection with the Community of St. Gorazd and Companions. On the other hand, however, he does not deny that the leader of the community, Miroslav Richter, was often leading the Gorazd followers in a very authoritative manner. The characteristics and activities of the Society of St. Gorazd and Companions have not been systematically analyzed up to now, according to the available information.
