Biritualism in the Practice of the Czech Church

Abstract

Both codes of canon law state the duty of bishops to care for all believers in their territory. This applies not only to the faithful of their Church, but also to the faithful of another Church sui iuris (in the case of the Czech Republic, especially the Greek Catholic Church). For pastoral help as well as support and revival of their rite, it can be in the field of liturgical help, where the priest of one ceremony receives from the Holy See the so-called faculty of biritualism. The article describes the situation in the Czech Republic, moreover complicated by the lack of priests of both ceremonies and the fact that in times of imprisonment before 1989 there were secret ordinations of married men with the Faculty of Biritualism. After the situation was relaxed, these priests were involved in the life of the Church mainly within the Greek Catholic exarchate.