Josef Suchár

* 1958

  • „And so they bought a cottage here, right in the Orlické Mountains, and they founded a recreational cooperative called Tatranský nový domov, they also had some land somewhere in Malý Fatra, somewhere in the Tatras. Then, unfortunately, it was somehow lost during the division of the republic. This led to the fact that, as a recreational cooperative, it was a member of the National Front and had the opportunity to organise ROH (Revolutionary Trade Union Movement) pioneer camps for the children of members and those waiting to join that cooperative. This meant that not just anyone could go there. We did the membership meetings with everything everywhere, now there were the conditions: how many workers could be there, how many men, how many women, how many communists. We had people there who we knew, who were in the party, and even then, when one of our communists died, it was necessary to supplement it somehow, so one of those guys even joined the party in order to have that number of members. So that it could work legally and we could do the pioneer camps. And that actually started my whole life, which is connected with the America camp, with Tišek, who was absolutely brilliant for the boys.“

  • „My preparation for priest training began, secretly, and I am very grateful for it, because I met wonderful people. I just don't know their names, I don't know [strictly confidential, it was such a conspiracy]. I only know that we went somewhere in the evening, then when there was to be a lecture, I could be there and we discussed something. We went over normal documents, moreover, my mother helped me with the bishopric by finding all the materials that were needed for this or that, so I can say that all the materials that were available at the seminar let’s say, I basically had them too. However, our specialisation was more about youth work. We went over some things quite marginally, such as languages, Latin and Hebrew, just so that I could orientate myself while counting on the notion that communists would be here forever and ever. With this, there would be enough time to supplement it in some way, and it is not the most important thing for priesthood, for youth work for which I was being prepared. - "Did you count on the secret church having to always exist in secret?" - "Well, we counted on the fact that I would never live to be able to serve officially. The preparation, the preparation of what we were doing, was dedicated to that. Of course, also with various secrecy, which turned out to be a big problem after the Revolution, because the documents that were about my ordination or my studies, as well as the index that we had, that we created based on things that I experienced… many of them could not be verified, because some have already died… My studies lasted seven years, the preparation actually. A lot of things happened during that time, so when those things changed and then when I took office, it had to be proven... We simply didn't send any documents to the Vatican. If only because when Bishop Otčenášek sent them there, they came for him. We knew that even in the Vatican there were confidants who were sending it back here, so these things did not happen. The record of my ordination are the signatures on the correspondence card of those who attended.“

  • „I personally think that this is also due to the fact that from the beginning we wanted the church to remain open to people. It is open day and night. And that we're here to fix it when something goes wrong. In all that time, it happened to us only once that somewhere someone wrote 666 on the ground with chalk or a brick, some kind of satanic symbol. Well, it got erased and that was it. Everyone asks: 'Aren't you afraid that someone will do something to you..?' And I say: 'Well, so what? If they do, we're here to fix it. Good. But I'm not going to close it to thousands of people because of one idiot.' And that's their church. So that they can come there when they need to. That is why it is the House of God, so that everyone can come there when they need it, not when the priest unlocks it and lets them in with permission. And I think that is the pain of our churches, because they provide us with wonderful historical monuments, wonderful monumental works, but of the past. Because of this and because they get stolen, we have to lock them up and do all these things. In a way, it is also a great grace. When that forgiveness comes, that's when miracles happen. What should I have the baroque decoration there for? The church is beautiful like this and it allows me to let it stay open. This goes hand in hand. And personally, I think that this is one of the ways to give back to people the possibility of a path to faith. It will be different from what we are used to, but it will be alive. And it is important that we can help them in this. The fact that a lot of mistakes will be made, well, they will be made. But those mistakes can be corrected.“

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    Neratov, 26.05.2021

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I was very glad that I went this way

Photograph of Josef Suchár, camp Radost 1977
Photograph of Josef Suchár, camp Radost 1977
photo: witness's archive

Mons. Josef Suchár was born on October 15, 1958 in Brno. His parents Eva and Josef Suchár were deeply religious Catholics and members of the Czechoslovak People’s Party, who did not hide their faith. Led by his father, Josef ministered from the age of three. Like-minded families from Brno met on Sundays on trips and attended services in the church at St. Thomas. They created a community strongly connected to the Catholic faith and the Church, realising that the upbringing of children and work with youth are the basis of the existence of the Church in the time of communist indoctrination. The families built a camp for children and youth called “Joy” in which they combined Christian and Scout programs. From the beginning the camp was run strictly conspiratorially, officially as a pioneer camp. Josef Suchár gradually became the deputy of the main leader František Fráni a.k.a. Tišek. Although Josef Suchár had good academic results at primary school, he was not recommended to study at a vocational school and had to train to be an electrician. After several rejections, he was only allowed to pass his Matura after returning from military service. Under the influence of inspiring personalities, especially Fr. František Fráni and Bishop Stanislav Krátký, he decided to study to become a priest. The underground study lasted seven years, taught secretly by ordained priests and bishops. In 1986, Josef Suchár was ordained a priest. After November 1989, when he was appointed to the spiritual administration in the displaced German villages in Orlické hory, he started to restore the church in one of them, in Neratov, with a group of enthusiasts. Gradually, he managed to bring permanent residents to Neratov and transform the cottage village into a lively place where people with disabilities and healthy people live side by side. The Neratov Association provides sheltered work and housing in the immediate vicinity, and has built a shop, a pub, an information centre and a brewery, as befits an old pilgrimage site.