Tomáš Halík
Encyclopedia
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
public intellectual, Roman Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, and scholar.
Biography
He studied sociology and philosophy in PraguePrague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and in Bangor
Bangor, Wales
Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...
, UK. During Communist rule, he was banned from teaching and worked in various occupations, e.g. as a psychotherapist for drug addicts and alcoholics. He studied theology clandestinely in Prague and in 1978 he was secretly ordained as a Catholic priest in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Before 1989 he was active in the so-called "underground church" and, in the 1980s, he was a close associate of Cardinal František Tomášek
František Tomášek
František Tomášek was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in Bohemia, the 34th Archbishop of Prague, and a Roman Catholic theologian...
.
He often publicly discusses ethical issues, such as: racism, political and religious intolerance, the process of secularisation
Secularism
Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
, as well as the process of European expansion and integration. As a visiting fellow, he held lectureships at both Oxford University and the Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. He was one of the external advisors of former Czech president Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
.
Tomáš Halík is a member of numerous scientific societies, including the European Society for Catholic Theology
European Society for Catholic Theology
The European Society of Catholic Theology is an association of European Catholic theologians whose goal is to promote the academic discipline of Catholic theology primarily at the intersection where Church and society meet. Founded in 1989, its members work at theological institutes, universities,...
, the International Society for the Psychology of Religion , Washington-based Czechoslovak Society for Science and the Arts
Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences
Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, cultural organization, dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the free dissemination of ideas, and the fostering of contacts among people...
etc. In 2010, his book “Patience with God” (Vzdáleným nablízku: vášeň a trpělivost v setkání víry s nevírou) was named book of the month by the U.S. Catholic Book Club and was awarded Europe’s best theological book prize.
Publications
- O přítomnou církev a společnost (For Present Church and Society). Prague: Křesťanská akademie, 1992. (Essays from 1989-91.)
- Sedm úvah o službě nemocným a trpícím (Seven Meditations about Serving the Diseased and Suffering). Brno: Cesta, 1993.
- Víra a kultura (Faith And Culture). Prague: Zvon, 1995.
- Ptal jsem se cest (I Asked The Roads). Prague: Portál, 1997. (Interviews with Jan Jandourek.)
- Co je bez chvění, není pevné (There is No Firmness Without Trembling). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2002.
- Oslovit Zachea (Addressing Zacheus). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2003.
- Vzýván i nevzýván (Both Called And Not Called). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2004.
- Noc zpovědníka (Confessor‘s Night). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2005.
- Prolínání světů (Overlaps of worlds). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2006.
- Vzdáleným nablízku. (Close to the remote) Prague: Lidové noviny, 2007. (Translated into English as "Patience with God")
- Dotkni se ran. Prague: Lidové noviny, 2008.
- Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing in Us. Doubleday, 2009.
- Stromu zbývá naděje. Prague: Lidové noviny, 2009.
- Geduld mit Gott (Die Geschichte von Zachäeus heute). Freiburg: Herder, 2010.
- Divadlo pro anděly. Prague: Lidové noviny, 2010.
- Smířená různost. Prague: Portál, 2011. (Interviews with Tomasz Dostatni)