Abstract
The article analyses the Vatican Eastern politics towards Czechoslovakia and, particularly, towards its eastern part — Slovakia. It shows that the most relevant reason for its unsuccess has to be seen, beside the ideological rigidity, in the heterogeneous character of the Czechoslovak state. In the Czech ambience catholicism did not play any significant role, but historical anti-Catholic resentiments and a communist variant of „Czechoslovak ideology“ survived that saw in the Slovak catholicism not only an ideological enemy, but also a potential menace to the unity of the state. In contrast to Poland or Hungary where a kind of modus vivendi between the Church and the regime could emerge as a result of commom national interests, in Slovakia no such possibility existed. On the contrary, the Czechoslovak state punished most severely religious manifestations linked with Slovak national conscience.
Keywords
Vatican Eastern Politics, Holy See, Slovakia, détente, Paul VI, John Paul II
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