The Catholic Church and the Czech state have settled an 18-year-old legal dispute over the ownership and management of the country's biggest and most famous church, St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. President Vaclav Klaus and Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka signed an agreement Monday that effectively ends the disagreement.
Klaus said the church dropped its ownership claim to the Gothic cathedral, which dates back to the 14th century, and that the state and the church will jointly manage it.
The Catholic Church administered the cathedral for more than 600 years until 1954, when the country's communist government gave it to the state.
Since 1992, the church had demanded the courts declare it the cathedral's owner, but the Supreme Court said no last year.
SIC: WFP