Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka Wednesday repeated that church wants to invite Pope Benedict XVI for 2013, Irena Sargankova, spokeswoman for the Czech Bishops' Conference (CBK), said Wednesday.The Pope is to participate in the celebrations of the arrival of Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius in Great Moravia 1150 years ago, Sarganova said.
Representatives of Czech Catholics are likely to meet the Pope in November when a national pilgrimage to Rome will be held.
It will be a thanks-giving pilgrimage for Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Czech Republic last year.
The celebrations in 2013 will also be held in Slovakia.
Duka said earlier Slovaks, too, were planning to invite Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Benedict XVI visited the Czech Republic last September in connection with an anniversary of Saint Wenceslas, patron saint of Bohemia, and also with the 20th anniversary of the overthrow of the Communist regime.
He visited Prague, Brno and Stara Boleslav, central Bohemia, where Duke Wenceslas died a martyr's death in 935.
Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, "the apostles of the Slavs" were two Greek missionaries who introduced Christianity to Central Europe in the 9th century.
Great Moravia was roughly situated on what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
SIC: PDM/EU