ThDr. PhDr. František Kovář, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and secularization in the Czechoslovak Republic between 1918 and 1938 (Diaries, 1928-1936)
Abstract
The newly formed Czechoslovak Hussite Church (CHC) became an important ecclesiastical player during the secularisation process in Bohemia and Europe in 1920. Its theologian, who captures many of the secularisation phenomena of the period in his diaries, was František Kovář (1888-1969).
He studied at the Theology Faculty of Charles University in Prague, where he graduated as a Doctor of Theology in 1916. After the First World War, he joined the clergy’s reformist movement in the Roman Catholic Church, and was involved in the foundation of CHC.
He also began study at the Charles University’s Faculty of Arts, where he obtained a second doctorate. Many years of religious and New Testament study gave Kovář a broad perspective and prepared him for his theological work in CHC, which he acquired from the first Patriach of the Church, Dr K Farský.
From 1926, Kovář dedicated himself to teaching its theologians and to CHC’s publishing policy. In doing so, he tried to overcome a number of secularisation phenomena occurring in Czech interwar society