20,000 Demand Czech Reforms : East Bloc: Resistance to the government spreads. Criticism is read at church services in Prague. There are no reports of violence.

More than 20,000 protesters marched through this capital Sunday demanding free elections and an end to the Communist Party’s monopoly of power as new voices joined in the growing condemnation of the Stalinist regime.

Across the statue of the Czechs’ patron saint, Wenceslas, in the city’s main square, protesters draped a large banner declaring, “The Government Is Dead.”

Elsewhere, messages of direct, unprecedented criticism of the government were read by clergymen at both Roman Catholic and Protestant church services as calls for a two-hour general strike next Monday gathered strength.

There were also growing signs that the country’s tiny non-Communist parties have begun to distance themselves from the regime. Until now, these parties have been allowed to exist only as long as they acquiesced to the Communist government.

As resistance to the government spread, veteran Western diplomats spoke of a detectable rise in the level of confidence among those challenging the hard-liners.

“The atmosphere has changed,” said one respected Western diplomat. “The main issue in this country is psychological--who has fear--and (Communist Party leader Milos) Jakes and his group are now afraid.

“I’m quite convinced Mr. Jakes knows he’s done,” this diplomat added. “It’s only a question of time.”

Late Sunday night, lights at the offices of both the national party and the Prague Communist Party Central Committee were burning.

Earlier, thousands of men, women and children gathered in Wenceslas Square, then marched through the city.

A few protesters carried banners calling for freedom while shouts of “Free elections, free elections!” and “Prague, rise up!” boomed through the late autumn afternoon.

After some delay, riot police appeared in some areas, but there were no reports of violence.

Makeshift banners placed under a statue in the square also called for free elections and an end to one-party rule.

On Sunday morning, both Roman Catholic and Protestant congregations heard their clergymen condemn the government in the wake of Friday’s brutal police crackdown against a student-led protest. In one Catholic church in central Prague, the parish priest declared: “The events are now so horrible that the people must fight for their liberty. The Czech people can no longer afford to be passive.”

About 85% of Czechoslovakia’s 15 million citizens are Roman Catholic, but, unlike neighboring Poland, the church has rarely been used here as a forum for anti-government rhetoric.

The synod of the country’s largest Protestant sect, the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, dispatched telegrams to Communist authorities demanding punishment for the police officers involved in Friday’s action.

Protestant parishioners also read a letter signed by all 26 deputies of the church synod that in part warned: “Nobody can appropriate power at the expense of others. In these days, we’ve seen up close what a frightening manner in which power can be abused.”

There were other protests, too.

When National Theater ticket-holders arrived for a traditional Sunday matinee children’s performance, they were addressed by a director who announced that the actors in most of the city’s theaters would strike this week in protest against Friday’s crackdown.

The same statement was read at the nearby national opera house.

Editors of the official Socialist Party newspaper, Svobodne Slovo (Free Word), called an extraordinary news conference Sunday and presented several students who had witnessed the police action Friday. The paper reportedly plans to publish the accounts of these students in today’s editions.

Rumors that a student had died after Friday’s police violence began sweeping the city Saturday, and by Sunday, a series of small shrines with candles and flowers appeared along the street where the clashes had taken place. But authorities broadcast denials Sunday that anyone had died, and eventually the alleged victim’s family confirmed that their son was unharmed.

Prague Radio reported that prominent dissident Petr Uhl has been arrested on charges of spreading false reports in connection with the rumored death.

A coalition of about 50 small opposition groups, composed mainly of intellectuals, were also said to be formulating a set of demands that included free elections, an end to the leading role of the Communist Party and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia.

As pressure mounted against the Czech hard-liners, there were further indications that Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec seemed to be positioning himself as a more liberal alternative to lead the party if Jakes should fall.

He is reported to have met Saturday with small groups of independent people pressing for government reforms and is also said to have reacted positively to calls for an investigation into Friday’s violence.

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