The special mass Sunday, February 24, at the Saint Vitus Cathedral was led by Roman Catholic Bishop to Prague, Vaclav Maly, who described the "Communist coup" of February 1948 in his sermon as a "tragedy, which should never be repeated," the network said.
Bishop Maly also preached forgiveness however, asking victims of the Communist regime to "forgive, but not forget." The service came a day before on Monday, February 25, the Czech Republic will remember the 60th anniversary of the “bloodless coup”, when Communist forces seized power in post-war Czechoslovakia.
Under Communism, 1948 to 1989, over 262,000 political prisoners, many of them Christians, were jailed or sent to labor camps, where thousands perished. A further 241 people were executed, having been found guilty of performing “anti-Communist acts”, according to official records.
COMMUNIST COUP
On Sunday, February 24, crowds also gather on Prague’s Wenceslas Square to remember the Communist coup, Radio Prague said. The square was the scene of anti-Communist demonstrations in 1989, which eventually led to the end of the regime. The Czech Republic joined the European Union in 2004.
Most people gathered Sunday, February 24, were youngsters, from the Scouts, to Young Christian Democrats and Young Conservatives groups, witnesses said. However some elderly survivors of the Communist takeover also spoke to the people at the square.
It is important to be reminded "them of the horrors that the Czech people lived through," one of the speakers, Mirko Stastny, reportedly said.
