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Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek, 93; Czech Symbol of Religious Freedom

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<i> From Times Wire Services</i>

Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek, a symbol of the struggle for religious freedom under communism, died Tuesday at 93 of heart failure, the state news agency CSTK reported.

Tomasek’s quiet defiance of the government and his dedication to Czechoslovakia’s oppressed faithful won him the devotion of millions of the country’s Roman Catholics.

On Tomasek’s 90th birthday, less than six months before the peaceful revolution that ended communist rule, he was called “a symbol of confidence, courage and the authentic defense of religious rights” by Father Vaclav Maly, who was a founding member of the Charter 77 human rights movement.

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Tomasek was ordained a priest in 1922 and was appointed archbishop of Prague, and thus head of the Czechoslovak church, in 1977. He retired in March, 1991, a year and a half after the fall of communism.

Because of his undisputed leadership of Czechoslovakia’s estimated 6 million Catholics and his high position in the church, Communist Party authorities had tolerated Tomasek, who as a bishop was imprisoned for three years in the early 1950s.

When Pope John Paul II visited Prague in April, 1990, he singled Tomasek out for special praise, saying he had come “to pay tribute to all your suffering.”

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