Czech Republic
Summary
At the close of World War I, the Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, having rejected a federal system, the new country’s predominantly Czech leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the increasingly strident demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Slovaks, the Sudeten Germans, and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). On the eve of World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the territory that today comprises Czechia, and Slovakia became an independent state allied with Germany. After the war, a reunited but truncated Czechoslovakia (less Ruthenia) fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country’s leaders to liberalize communist rule and create “socialism with a human face,” ushering in a period of repression known as “normalization.” The peaceful “Velvet Revolution” swept the Communist Party from power at the end of 1989 and inaugurated a return to democratic rule and a market economy. On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a nonviolent “velvet divorce” into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. The country added the short-form name Czechia in 2016, while continuing to use the full form name, Czech Republic.
Source: [1]
📷 : Wikipedia
Statistics
From the The Joshua Project [2]
In the News
📷 : Wikipedia
Prayer Guide
Freedom for Czechs has too often translated into a “free-for-all”. A generally successful shift to a market economy is positive for the country, but it places economic stress on too many of the most vulnerable. The moral vacuum that has emerged sees hedonistic materialism assume primacy; crime, sexual immorality, substance abuse as well as depression and suicide are more prevalent today than in Communist times. Atheism rose from 40% in 1991 to 60% in 2001 (and 71% non-religious in 2010), but apparently this does not preclude widespread use of horoscopes and a fuzzy mishmash of spiritual ideas. Pray for this existential and spiritual heaviness over the Czech Republic; pray that serious soul-searching may take place and that a shift in the spiritual atmosphere might occur.
The Catholic Church is in what could almost be described as freefall. Despite outnumbering all other confessions nearly 6 to 1, its influence is waning quickly. The openness of the 1990s was a window of opportunity that was passed up. Instead of offering a living faith, traditionalism (“religion for grannies”) and a failure to act decisively relegated Catholicism to a minor role in society – a strong contrast to neighbouring Slovakia and Poland. Increasing adaptation and renewal movements may not be enough to save Catholicism from declining further, since both laity and priesthood are generally quite old.
Source: [3]