Saturday, December 22, 2007

Czech Catholic Church appeals verdict on St Vitus Cathedral

The Czech Catholic Church has appealed the district court's verdict from September that returned St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle to the state, so the Prague City Court will deal with the case for the third time, the church's lawyer Petr Zdercik told CTK today.

The dispute between the state and the church about the ownership of the cathedral, the construction of which started in the 14th century and was only completed in the 20th century, has continued for 14 years.

In the two previous verdicts, judge Libuse Fritzova ruled that the church is the cathedral's owner.

However, in the last verdict she followed the Supreme Court's opinion. It was based on the government regulation from 1954 on the protected area of Prague Castle, the presidential seat, saying that the sight belongs to all Czechoslovak people.

The court ruled at the beginning of the year that all people's ownership actually means state ownership.

Zdercik challenges the court's opinion. He said the government regulation did not express ownership transfer.

"The [then communist] government did not embed its illicit intention to expropriate the curch in the bill," Zdercik told the court in September.

The church, represented in the dispute by the Metropolitan Chapter at St Vitus and the Collegiate Chapter of All Saints at Prague Castle, brought a lawsuit against the state concerning the ownership of the cathedral and adjacent buildings in 1992.

The district court decided that the cathedral belonged to the church 13 years ago, but the appeals court returned the case for reappraisal.

The court eventually confirmed the verdict, but the Supreme Court abrogated the valid ruling early this year.

The state took over the cathedral on the basis of the Supreme Court's ruling and in agreement with the church in April.
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