Modification of the Statutes of the Metropolitan Chapter of Olomouc and the Appointment of the Vacant Canons in Connection with the Issue of the 1917 Code of Canon Law

Abstract

During the episcopate of Archbishop Stojan the Czechoslovak government very strongly interfered in the resolution of the so-called question of the Olomouc Chapter. Afterwards the issue was perceived primarily as an internal affair of the Church, and negotiations took place between the Archbishop of Olomouc together with the Chapter and the Holy See. The Chapter could not ignore the provisions of the new Code of Canon Law, but did not want to renounce its existing privileges, also because the canons “had sworn by the old statutes”. On the other hand, the number of vacant canonical posts had increased and Prečan, the archbishop of Olomous, managed to effect the appointment of new canons according to the provisions of the Code. The State did not influence those appointment. The nationality of the Chapter members was an important issue.

The issue of new statutes for the Chapter remained unsolved. The requirement of the Holy See from 1923 to review the Statutes in accordance with the new Code was not fulfilled even in the next 70 years. The Chapter, in colaboration with the Archbishop, drafted revised statutes in 1933, but ultimately they were not approved. Also, Archbishop Josef Karel Matocha called the Chapter to submit new statutes for approval after World War II, but yetagain the Chapter argued that the time was “inopportune”. The onset of the Communist regime in 1948 made the situation so difficult that the Olomouc Chapter did not have its new approved Statutes until 1994.