Prague, September 29, 2025
Photo: spc.rs
The Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Prague last week.
The Divine Liturgy for the anniversary was led by His Eminence Archbishop Michael of Prague and the Czech Lands and His Grace Bishop Dositej of Lipljan, vicar of the Serbian Patriarch, on September 27, at the historic cathedral, reports the Serbian Orthodox Church.
During the service, Bp. Dositej conveyed greetings from His Holiness Serbian Patriarch Porfirije to Met. Michael and the faithful of Prague. Addressing the congregation, which included the ambassadors of Serbia and Slovakia, he emphasized that the Cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Methodius has testified to the Equal-to-the-Apostles’ mission, love, and light brought to the Slavic peoples for nine decades. He noted that their work is not merely history but a living legacy that connects, unites, and calls for unity in Christ.
The Liturgy was followed by the opening of a photo exhibition dedicated to the consecration of the cathedral as an Orthodox church in 1935. It was originally built as a Catholic church in the mid-18th century. It was later closed during Emperor Joseph’s reforms before being given to Prague’s Orthodox residents.
The cathedral’s most tragic chapter occurred in 1942 when a group of Czech resistance fighters who had assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most notorious Nazi criminals known as the “Butcher of Prague,” took refuge in its crypt. The priests of the cathedral provided sanctuary to these heroes. The Germans subsequently condemned the priests, along with the holy martyr Bishop Gorazd, to death. They were executed by firing squad and their bodies burned in Prague’s crematorium. The Germans then banned the Orthodox Church in Czechoslovakia and confiscated its property.
Photo: spc.rs
Bp. Dositej continued his visit with services on the feast of St. Wenceslas of Bohemia at the Monastery of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Hořovice, and on the feast of St. Ludmila of Bohemia, celebrating the Divine Liturgy in Tetín, where she met her martyrdom.
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