Fathers Jan Bula and Václav Drbola were killed for their Catholic faith in 1951 and 1952, and are now the first martyrs of the Czech Republic to be beatified. After World War II, communism spread through Eastern Europe and brought fierce persecution of the Catholic Church, targeting priests in particular. In Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic, an atheistic government quickly moved to hunt down and kill Catholic leaders.
Cardinal Michael Czerny presided at the beatification ceremony on June 6 in Brno. In his homily he said, “Blessed Jan and Václav call us not to sell truth for comfort or to avoid conflict, not to exchange faith for the approval of others, not to choose silence where witness should be given, not to sacrifice conscience for comfort, career, or conformism.” Fr. Jan and Fr. Václav are the first martyrs of the Czech Republic. More priests, religious, and laypeople are expected to be beatified in the future.
Fr. Jan was born in 1920 and entered the diocesan seminary of Brno in 1938. He was ordained on July 29, 1945 and first assigned to work with young people. When the communist regime took power in 1948, he was targeted. He was arrested on April 30, 1951, on false charges linking him to an uprising and accusing him of inspiring an attack against communist officials. Fr. Jan was hanged in prison on May 20, 1952.
Fr. Václav attended the same seminary as Fr. Jan and was ordained on July 5, 1938. He served in the parishes of Slavkov u Brna, Čučice and Bučovice. After the communists took over, he was arrested on June 17, 1951. Even while in prison he was charged with inspiring an attack on communist officials and was executed on August 3, 1951. Both priests were persecuted and killed simply because of their Catholic faith, despite the false accusations against them. Their courageous ministry under an oppressive regime remains an inspiration today.