Mimořádné fakulty v českobudějovické diecézi
Extraordinary Faculties in the Diocese of České Budějovice

Summary/Abstract: The article examines a newly discovered document from 1949, in which the bishop of České Budějovice, Josef Hlouch, issues instructions to his clergy amid increased persecution by the communist regime. Firstly, the article describes the situation that the Church was in following the coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 and the repressive measures that the regime was already carrying out or was planning, particularly in the České Budějovice diocese against Hlouch himself. The article then analyses the document itself, which shows Hlouch’s organisational skills and the strength of his spiritual character. He formulates his instructions based on the so-called “Mexican faculties” granted by the Holy See in the event of persecution of the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia, the existence and content of which he would certainly have been aware of. The document analysed here is divided into three parts, with the second – regulating the powers of the bishop’s deputies in the event of his removal from the diocese – containing delegations of specific diocesan officials for selected church acts and further instructions to make the clergy’s activities easier under conditions aggravated by obstruction from the communist regime. These arrangements made by the bishop are commented on based on the church law in force at the time, contained in the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

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