CZECH AND SLOVAK ORTHODOX CHURCH

CZECH AND SLOVAK ORTHODOX CHURCH. Granted autocephaly (q.v.) by Moscow in 1951, until recently the Orthodox Church of Czech and Slovakia has suffered the systematic persecutions and destructive policies of its zealously antireligious Communist government along with the rest of the Christian population. Since 1946, it has been associated with its mother church (q.v.), the Moscow Patriarchate. Still, its most notable 20th c. legacy is its sainted martyr, Bishop Gorazd, who was killed by the Germans in World War II and canonized in 1987. The forced reunion of 200,000 Uniates (q.v.) with Czech Orthodoxy in 1950 was short-lived (till 1968) and caused many bitter resentments. After the fall of Communism, Czech Orthodox churches were returned to Roman Catholics by the government, and the Czech Orthodox are hard-pressed to rebuild. Its Metropolitan Dorotheus currently holds the title of Archbishop of Prague, Metropolitan of the Czech and Slovakia Republics.