Czech Priest Witnessed the ‘Cihost Miracle,’ and Was Killed for It - NCR

[Path_Finder]

Czech Priest Witnessed the ‘Cihost Miracle,’ and Was Killed for It

Read more: ncregister.com/daily-news/czech-priest-witnessed-the-cihost-miracle-and-was-killed-for-it/#ixzz3SmlSA3f2

ROME — A priest who witnessed a miracle in communist Czechoslovakia in the 1940s was tortured and beaten to death for refusing to recant what he’d seen. And now Catholics from the country are honoring his heroic virtue and pushing for him to be recognized as a martyr.

…

During the season of Advent in 1949 — the early phase of the communist era in Czechoslovakia — Father Toufar and some parishioners said they saw a cross at the altar in the church moving from one side to another several times. The event has come to be known as “the Číhošť miracle.”

To prevent the news of the phenomenon from going public, the secret police interrogated Father Toufar, demanding that he say that he had moved the cross himself.

The priest, however, refused.

In response, the police beat him so severely that he was unable to speak, walk or sit. He died two months after the miracle took place.

After Father Toufar’s death, the Church along with all religions were suppressed across the Soviet Union-led communist regime. The state was officially atheist and any accounts of miracles and those who spoke of them were treated in way to be erased from the record and the historical memory. The regime even filmed a documentary which tried to show that the Číhošť miracle was a forgery.

Despite their efforts, the account of the “Číhošť Miracle” has survived.

 

[CarolNoel]

God bless him. Prayers from me to a fellow Czech “Bohonk.”

 

[boar2roar]

Are the Czech statistics on the Internet for the amount of catholics true? Its hard to believe that it was 10 percent and is still quickly decreasing…

 

[NeedsMercy]

Thank you for posting this, Path Finder. I had never heard of this miracle or Fr. Toufar until now.