{"id":12676,"date":"2025-10-24T12:24:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T10:24:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/?page_id=12676"},"modified":"2025-11-05T11:35:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T10:35:38","slug":"daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/","title":{"rendered":"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 &#8211; Women and Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Communist states controlled their citizens in every aspect of their lives \u2013 faith was one of them. In Czechoslovakia, after harsh persecution in the 1950s and the targeted destruction of religious orders, a free underground church emerged. Women were actively involved in organizing education and secret meetings, working with children and young people, and participating in the creation and transcription of samizdat religious magazines and books. They ended up in prison under the law on obstruction of supervision of churches and religious societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Czechoslovak communist state used women&#8217;s orders in charitable and social work. Meanwhile, nuns pointed out that the law on religious freedom existed only on paper. The wives of Greek Catholic and Protestant priests were also persecuted. The Polish Catholic Church formed a strong opposition to the communist regime. It was an institution that had the opportunity to support dissidents financially, hide them, and organize exhibitions and meetings in churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8222;Here in Europe, we tend to have traditional models of the church and carry within us a fear of the freedom of others. Men may not even realize this and are losing out on the great potential of active women. In the spiritual realm, however, there should be no division between men and women, no &#8222;dos and don&#8217;ts,&#8221; no power considerations, but rather a joy in each other&#8217;s charismatic gifts.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ludmila Javorov\u00e1 in conversation with Zden\u011bk Jan\u010da\u0159\u00edk in the book <em>You Are a Priest Forever<\/em><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"666\" height=\"465\" src=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Obraz1-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12917\" style=\"width:412px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Obraz1-5.png 666w, https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Obraz1-5-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 666px) 100vw, 666px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Eva Kl\u010dovansk\u00e1 was the editor of ZrNO, a Slovak samizdat magazine on religious topics for young people. Editorial board meetings were held in her apartment. She was constantly monitored by the secret police. Pictured are editors Ladislav Strom\u010dek, Eva Kl\u010dovansk\u00e1, and Franti\u0161ek Miklo\u0161ko.<br>Source: J. \u0160imul\u010d\u00edk, www.samizdat.sk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"333\" height=\"270\" src=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/bernadeta.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12918\" srcset=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/bernadeta.jpg 333w, https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/bernadeta-300x243.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 333px) 100vw, 333px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nun Bernadeta P\u00e1n\u010diov\u00e1, an important figure in the underground church, with her parents and brother Bernard, who was sentenced to thirteen years in prison in 1958. On 21 August 1968, she wrote in her diary: &#8222;<em>Today our nation is humiliated! Russia and its allies have occupied us. Jesus, have mercy on us, save the Holy Church and our homeland! Mary of Sorrows, do not forsake us!&#8221;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"728\" src=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Iva-Kotrla-s-triletou-Anou-Kotrlou1987-1024x728.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12919\" style=\"width:401px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Iva-Kotrla-s-triletou-Anou-Kotrlou1987-1024x728.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Iva-Kotrla-s-triletou-Anou-Kotrlou1987-300x213.jpg 300w, https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Iva-Kotrla-s-triletou-Anou-Kotrlou1987-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Iva-Kotrla-s-triletou-Anou-Kotrlou1987-1536x1092.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Iva-Kotrla-s-triletou-Anou-Kotrlou1987.jpg 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Writer and Charter 77 signatory Iva Kotrl\u00e1 (right) and her husband were active in the Catholic dissent movement, preparing texts for broadcast on Vatican Radio&#8217;s Czech service, among other things. Pictured here with Ludv\u00edk Vacul\u00edk and Lenka Proch\u00e1zkov\u00e1 in 1987.<br>Source: Private archive of Iva Kotrl\u00e1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"266\" height=\"241\" src=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Obraz2-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12920\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A close colleague of Felix Maria Dav\u00eddek in the underground church was Ludmila Javorov\u00e1, who was ordained as a Roman Catholic deacon and priest in 1970 under exceptional circumstances. In 1996, she was banned from performing priestly duties on the grounds that her ordination was invalid under Catholic canon law. Alena Srnkov\u00e1-\u0160ounov\u00e1 became one of the first four female pastors of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren. She was monitored and wiretapped by the Secret Police<br>In the photo of the Koin\u00f3t\u00e9s community in Brno, fourth from the left in the back row is Ludmila Javorov\u00e1. Source: Private archive of Ludmila Javorov\u00e1<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"286\" height=\"204\" src=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Obraz3.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12921\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Polish dissidents organized joint prayers as spiritual support for the strikers. The photo shows Magdalena Modzelewska at the Gda\u0144sk shipyards, where she led joint prayers during the strikes in August 1980, together with Bo\u017cena Rybicka and Ewa Ossowska, among others.<br>Photo by: Stanis\u0142aw Sk\u0142adanowski&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"204\" height=\"275\" src=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/11\/Obraz4-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-12922\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>M\u00e1ria Mur\u00e1\u0148ov\u00e1 devoted herself to theological and philosophical education within the Slovak underground church. Her texts were secretly passed abroad, where they were published under the pseudonym Vikt\u00f3ria Montana and smuggled back in book form. From the 1970s onwards, the so-called KLAPY courses were held for Christian seculars, combining spiritual, theological, philosophical, and practical training. Lectures on psychology were given by Judita Stempelov\u00e1 and Eva Kl\u010dovansk\u00e1. From 1975, Em\u00edlia Turi\u010d\u00edkov\u00e1 transcribed tape recordings and handwritten notes by the secret bishop J.C.Korec. To avoid possible detection, she did not attend meetings or pilgrimages. By 1990, she had transcribed approximately 15,000 pages<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Communist states controlled their citizens in every aspect of their lives \u2013 faith was one of them. In Czechoslovakia, after harsh persecution in the 1950s and the targeted destruction of religious orders, a free underground church emerged. Women were actively involved in organizing education and secret meetings, working with children and young people, and participating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":12702,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-12676","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 - Women and Church - Instytut Polski w Pradze<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"pl_PL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 - Women and Church - Instytut Polski w Pradze\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Communist states controlled their citizens in every aspect of their lives \u2013 faith was one of them. In Czechoslovakia, after harsh persecution in the 1950s and the targeted destruction of religious orders, a free underground church emerged. Women were actively involved in organizing education and secret meetings, working with children and young people, and participating [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Instytut Polski w Pradze\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-05T10:35:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1595\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Szacowany czas czytania\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minut\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/\",\"name\":\"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 - Women and Church - Instytut Polski w Pradze\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-24T10:24:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-05T10:35:38+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1595},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 &#8211; Women and Church\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/\",\"name\":\"Instytut Polski w Pradze\",\"description\":\"Instytuty Polskie\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"pl-PL\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 - Women and Church - Instytut Polski w Pradze","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/","og_locale":"pl_PL","og_type":"article","og_title":"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 - Women and Church - Instytut Polski w Pradze","og_description":"Communist states controlled their citizens in every aspect of their lives \u2013 faith was one of them. In Czechoslovakia, after harsh persecution in the 1950s and the targeted destruction of religious orders, a free underground church emerged. Women were actively involved in organizing education and secret meetings, working with children and young people, and participating [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/","og_site_name":"Instytut Polski w Pradze","article_modified_time":"2025-11-05T10:35:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1595,"url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Szacowany czas czytania":"5 minut"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/","url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/","name":"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 - Women and Church - Instytut Polski w Pradze","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-24T10:24:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-05T10:35:38+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"pl-PL","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"pl-PL","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/kazdodenni_odvaha_CZ_plakat-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1595},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/daily-courage-polish-czech-and-slovak-women-in-anti-communist-dissent-1968-1989-16-zeny-a-cirkev\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Daily Courage. Polish, Czech and Slovak Women in Anti-Communist Dissent 1968-1989 \/ 16 &#8211; Women and Church"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/#website","url":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/","name":"Instytut Polski w Pradze","description":"Instytuty Polskie","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"pl-PL"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12676"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12940,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12676\/revisions\/12940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/instytutpolski.pl\/praha\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}