František Sedláček

* 1951

  • „So at a quarter to two the dean told me that I should go to the funeral instead of him. He didn't tell me who, he didn't tell me what... I came to the ceremony hall - all red wreaths. 'And what are you doing here?' 'The dean sent me.' 'You can't be here.' The wife of the deceased came. He says, yes, we wanted the priest to be here with the dean. He was the secretary of the KSČ. District secretary of the KSČ. If the wife wants it, you can. And you have two minutes for the whole ceremony. So I kind of said, 'Okay. I will do a handstand and cross the ceremony hall with my hands and it will be two minutes...' 'And you must not say goodbye!' So I did the cross, the prayer, the Gospel, the Lord's Prayer. It took about more than two minutes. And I left. I don't know if he was buried or cremated... Two days later, six hours at the interrogation: How come I was at the funeral of that communist and how come I sent the communists to hell.“

  • „He was in civilian clothes at that celebration, he did not celebrate, but the Estebans were there. And when they went to the feast, because I didn't know it there, they went to some restaurant, [said Fr. Lízna]: 'I'll take you there, follow me. I have a car here, so come, I'll wait for you here.' So he got into the car and drove and I fell in line behind him. The two plainclothes police cars tried to overtake me. I held on to him and that's how we got there, parked. He went and said: 'These are the Estebans, they are following me. They are already coming to see me from Prague.' Then we sat at lunch, we prayed, we poured soup. The cook came: 'Mr. Lízna, come to the kitchen.' He said: 'Well, they've come to get me, I'm on my way.'“

  • „When we had eight hours of scientific communism in 1974, Tomáš Holoubek, the general vicar, came and said: 'Dlabal is here today.' He was the church secretary. And he said to Trocht: 'You mouldy old man! If you don't transfer this and that priest, I will take away the state approval from these ten here.' And the next day Trochta died.“

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    Štípa, 26.05.2021

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    duration: 02:22:51
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A burnt down church like a person without God

František Sedláček, graduation photo, 1970
František Sedláček, graduation photo, 1970
photo: witness's archive

František Sedláček was born on November 28, 1951 in Veselí nad Moravou in Slovácko. He grew up as the third of seven children in the family of father Jan and mother Marie, born Procházková, who belonged to one of the largest landlords in Veselí. In 1957, the parents, the grandfather and little František were struck by lightning in a field. All survived, but the mother suffered burns and both she and František’s father were unconscious. They took a long time to recover from the consequences of their injuries, and for some time neighbours helped them with the grunt. At the time of collectivization, the family farmed privately at first, but eventually succumbed to pressure from communist officials and the father became the chairman of the unified agricultural cooperative (JZD). For many years he then worked in various positions in cooperatives in Tasov, Nová Lhota or Sůchov. After graduating from elementary school in Veselí, František graduated from a three-year secondary general education school. In 1968, he participated in ministerial spiritual exercises, and in 1970 he applied to study at the priestly seminary in Litoměřice, where he studied, for example, with František Lízna. In 1974, during the funeral of Cardinal Štěpán Trochty, he managed to obtain photo documentation. He was ordained a priest the same year. His first work place was Přerov. As a result of intrigues and efforts to provoke a conflict coming from the local church secretary, František had to change places not even after a year. As he refused to join Pacem in terris, he was given a place at the rectory in the remote village of Tatenice (near Moravská Třebová) without electricity or water supply. He helped distribute Charter 77, but did not sign it himself. Since then, he had been under the surveillance of the StB almost continuously – his phone was tapped, he faced threats and hints of liquidation attempts, and he was often subjected to house searches and interrogations. There was also a futile attempt by the StB to recruit him to its services. From the end of the 1970s until 1990, he worked in Moravská Třebová, then in Vsetín. In 1981, the witness was formally condemned and immediately amnestied by President Gustáv Husák due to a fabricated case connected with the visit of believers - former natives of German nationality. He joined the Civic Forum during the Velvet Revolution. From 1998, he had been the leader of the seminary in Olomouc, and since 2005 he has been managing the pilgrimage site and the Church of the Nativity of Mary in Štípa, near Zlín.