Vatican to Examine the Life of Jan Hus
The Vatican will take a close look in December at the life and works of Jan Hus, a 15th century Czech priest who was burned as a heretic and is considered a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation, the Czech Bishops Conference said Thursday.
A three-day symposium, to be held at Lateran University in Rome, will culminate six years of research by a commission of Roman Catholic and Protestant scholars in the Czech Republic, the conference said.
The review comes as part of a sweeping effort by the Catholic Church to review historical abuses in the Inquisition and other events in its past.
Hus, a dynamic, revivalist preacher in Prague, denounced the papacy, church corruption and the sale of indulgences. He was also accused of rejecting Catholic doctrines on the priesthood and the Mass, though he denied these charges.
He was convicted by the Council of Constance in what is now Germany and executed July 6, 1415. He is widely regarded as a martyr by many Protestants and as a nationalist symbol by the Czechs.
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