okladka

V. 37 N. 1 (2021)

ISSN:
1427-7476

Section: Studia

The Contribution of Gustáv Husák to the Anti-Church Measures of the Communist Regime in the Years 1948–1950

Tomáš Černák

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0346-070X

Faculty of Arts Comenius University, Bratislava

Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość, V. 37 N. 1 (2021), pages: 139-168

Publication date: 2021-06-30

https://doi.org/10.48261/pis213707

Abstract

Gustáv Husák was one of the main figures in the campaign against the Church in Slovakia from after the Communist Party took power until his political downfall in 1950. Despite coming from a Catholic background, he became a convinced communist and obediently followed the instructions of the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. When he was entrusted with the task of dealing with the ecclesiastical issue in Slovakia, and thus with all the anti-Church interventions of the communist regime, he carried out orders in a disciplined manner. He was, however, mainly involved in measures against the Catholic Church. Gustáv Husák considered the Catholic Church to be compromised because of its activities in 1939–1945; he later used this factor in attacks against the Catholic Church and its highest representatives. He quite rightly saw the Catholic Church a danger to establishing the communist regime. His goal was to firmly bind all churches, and especially the Catholic Church, to the communist regime. After taking office as commissioner–chairman of the Slovak Office for Ecclesiastical Affairs, he pursued a tough anti-Church policy in Slovakia and participated in such measures of the communist regime against churches as the forcible establishment of a new leadership of the Banská Bystrica diocese, Action K and Action P. In particular, the last two actions were characterized by extreme brutality. Despite the fact that he did not always agree with the decisions of the Communist Party leadership in the field of anti-Church policy, he always complied with them. He officially justified his actions with the alleged anti-state activity of Church representatives and religious orders. In public pronouncements, he did not question religious freedom, which, however, was to be limited to the performance of religious ceremonies. In his opinion, the Church should not be allowed to interfere in political life and express itself critically about the communist regime; on the contrary, the Church should be fully subordinated. Ironically, Gustáv Husák lost all his important political functions during the implementation of these anti-Church measures. His personal downfall, which culminated in his arrest and imprisonment, followed shortly afterwards. In prison, Husák also met with priests and religious who had been imprisoned precisely because of his anti-Church measures. However, not even this fact changed Husák’s communist beliefs. Nevertheless, at a time when he held the highest state and party positions in Czechoslovakia, he played a significant role in the establishment of an independent Slovak ecclesiastical province. 


Církevní komise ÚV KSČ 1949–1951, ed. K. Kaplan, M. Bulínová, M. Janišová, Praha–Brno 1994.

Dokumenty o postavení Katolíckej Cirkvi na Slovensku v rokoch 1945–1948, ed. F. Vnuk, Martin 1998.

Černák T., Syrný M., Husák vrcholy a pády 1945–1951, Bratislava 2018.

Ďurica M.S., Dejiny Slovenska a Slovákov, Bratislava 2003.

Február 1948 a Slovensko, ed. O. Podolec, Bratislava 2008.

Haľko J., Rozbit’ Cirkev: Rozkolnícka Katolícka akcia, Bratislava 2004.

Haľko J., Ave crux. Život a dielo biskupa Ambróza Lazíka, Bratislava 2006.

Hnilica P., Vnuk F., Fatimské posolstvo a Božie milosrdenstvo – Výzva a posolstvo pre dnešný svet, Bratislava 2005.

Hrabovec E., Slovensko a Svätá stolica v kontexte vatikánskej východnej politiky, Bratislava 2017.

Judák V., Vo všetkom láska. Životopisný profil ThDr. Eduarda Nécseya, Nitra 2012.

Kaplan K., Stát a Cirkev v Československu 1948–1953, Praha–Brno 1993.

Kinčok B. a kol., Gustáv Husák a jeho doba, Bratislava 2015.

Kmeť N., Postavenie Cirkví na Slovensku 1948–1951, Bratislava 2000.

Michálek S., Londák M. a kol., Gustáv Husák. Moc politiky – politik moci, Bratislava 2013.

Pešek J., Barnovský M., Štátna moc a Cirkvi na Slovensku 1948–1953, Bratislava 1997.

Pešek J. et al., Aktéri jednej éry na Slovensku 1948–1989, Prešov 2003.

Prečan V., Slovenské národné povstanie. Dokumenty, Bratislava 1965.

Uhorskai P., Tkáčiková E., Evanjelici v dejinách slovenskej kultúry I., Liptovský Mikuláš 1997.

Vaško V., Neumlčená. Kronika Katolické církve v Československu po druhé světové válce II, Praha 1990.

Vnuk F., Akcie K a R, Bratislava 1995.

Vnuk F., Pokus o schizmu a iné proticirkevné opatrenia v rokoch 1949–1950, Bratislava 1996.

Vnuk F., Vládni zmocnenci na biskupských úradoch v rokoch 1949–1951, Martin 1999.

Vodičková S., Uzavírám vás do svého srdce. Životopis Josefa kardinála Berana, Praha 2009.

Licenza

Copyright (c) 2024 Remembrance and Justice

Creative Commons License

Questo lavoro è fornito con la licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

okladka

V. 37 N. 1 (2021)

ISSN:
1427-7476

Data publikacji:
2024-08-29

Dział: Studia