Slovak Church Pushes Ahead with Beatification of Bishop Linked to Deportation of Jews

The Conference of Bishops of Slovakia has announced that the beatification process for Bishop Ján Vojtaššák has entered a new stage, with the Vatican approving the Positio super martyrio document detailing his purported martyrdom. The decision has sparked outrage among Slovakia's anti-fascist movement, which pointed out that part of the Catholic clergy still has not acknowledged the crimes of the totalitarian regime of the wartime Slovak State, which collaborated with Nazi Germany.

During the existence of the Slovak State (1939–1945), Vojtaššák headed the Diocese of Spiš, which took part in the Aryanization of Jewish property, including the spa resort of Baldovské Kúpele. He also served as deputy chairman of the State Council — the country's highest advisory and oversight body — and effectively did nothing to stop the deportation of Jews to concentration camps.

Conviction and Posthumous Rehabilitation

After the war, in 1951, Vojtaššák was sentenced to 24 years in prison on charges of conspiracy against the republic, high treason, military treason and espionage. He served twelve years and died in Říčany near Prague shortly after his release in 1965 — he had been forbidden from returning to his native Slovakia. Following the fall of the communist regime, he was rehabilitated in 1990.

The Slovak Catholic Church regards Vojtaššák as a martyr who suffered under communist rule and has, on more than one occasion, sought his beatification. It is known that the Vatican previously suspended this process once before.

The Church's Response to Criticism

Bishop František Trstenský of the Diocese of Spiš wrote on Facebook that the beatification process, launched many years ago, should continue "according to God's will" and move closer to completion. At the same time, he stressed that the memory of Holocaust victims deserves deep respect.

"The Church is aware of the suffering of Jewish victims and firmly rejects antisemitism and the persecution of Jews. I am convinced that acknowledging the failures of Christians during that period and an honest examination of a particular person's life are not mutually exclusive. Both demand truthfulness, humility and responsibility from us," Trstenský said.

Source: novinky.cz