Name: From the Underground Church to Freedom
Price: 1200.00 TWD
Availability: InStock
Author: Tomas Halik
ISBN: 9780268106775

portada From the Underground Church to Freedom

Type

Physical Book

Author

Tomas Halik

Translated by

Gerald Turner

Publisher

University of Notre Dame Press

Year

2019

Language

English

Pages

352

Format

Hardcover

Dimensions

23.1 x 16.0 x 3.0 cm

Weight

0.70 kg.

ISBN13

9780268106775

Synopsis "From the Underground Church to Freedom "

International best-selling author and theologian Tomás Halík shares for the first time the dramatic story of his life as a secretly ordained priest in Communist Czechoslovakia. Inspired by Augustine's candid presentation of his own life, Halík writes about his spiritual journey within a framework of philosophical theology; his work has been compared to that of C. S. Lewis, Thomas Merton, and Henri Nouwen. Born in Prague in 1948, Halík spent his childhood under Stalinism. He describes his conversion to Christianity during the time of communist persecution of the church, his secret study of theology, and secret priesthood ordination in East Germany (even his mother was not allowed to know that her son was a priest). Halík speaks candidly of his doubts and crises of faith as well as of his conflicts within the church. He worked as a psychotherapist for over a decade and, at the same time, was active in the underground church and in the dissident movement with the legendary Cardinal Tomásek and Václav Havel, who proposed Halík as his successor to the Czech presidency. Since the fall of the regime, Halík has served as general secretary to the Czech Conference of Bishops and was an advisor to John Paul II and Václav Havel.Woven throughout Halík's story is the turbulent history of the church and society in the heart of Europe: the 1968 Prague Spring, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the self-immolation of his classmate Jan Palach, the "flying university," the 1989 Velvet Revolution, and the difficult transition from totalitarian communist regime to democracy. Thomas Halík was a direct witness to many of these events, and he provides valuable testimony about the backdrop of political events and personal memories of the key figures of that time. This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in Halík and the church as it was behind the Iron Curtain, as well as in where the church as a whole is headed today.

Tomas Halik

(Author)

View Author's Page

Tomáš Halík (Prague, June 1, 1948) is a Czech Catholic priest, philosopher, and university professor. During the communist regime, he was ordained as a priest in secrecy in 1978 and worked in the "underground Church", closely collaborating with Cardinal Tomášek. After the fall of communism, he became an advisor to President Václav Havel and was the General Secretary of the Czech Bishops' Conference (1990-1993).

He is a professor of sociology at Charles University in Prague, chaplain of the university chapel, and president of the Czech Christian Academy since 1990. Among his most notable works are "Patience with God" (2009) and "I Want You to Be" (2016), both belonging to the genre of theology and religious philosophy. In 2014, he was awarded the Templeton Prize for his contributions to interreligious dialogue and his work in promoting understanding among different cultures and religions.

See less