The metropolitan chapter of St. Vitus and the office of the President of the Republic met recently at the castle in Prague to discuss the date and conditions for the handing over to the State of the Cathedral named after Saints Vitus, Wencelaus and Adalbert. The meeting ended without any firm result other than an agreement to continue the negotiations. According to the Press Office of the Czech Bishops’ Conference, the discussion was called “pragmatic” by the auxiliary bishop of Prague, the Right Rev. Vaclav Maly: “We are trying to respect the ruling of the Supreme Court, but first we must reach an agreement on future collaboration”. Both sides agreed on an inspection of other buildings that belong to the cathedral, they too subject to negotiation. The dispute on the cathedral is not new: it has been rumbling on for fourteen years. A sentence that had declared the cathedral the property of the Church was annulled by the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic in February this year. The question has now been deferred to the district Court of Prague and will be discussed on 3 May 2007.
