Brno, Dec 19 (CTK) – The first part of the process of beatification of Czech priests Jan Bula and Vaclav Drbola, victims of the Communist judiciary after the “Babice events” in the 1950s, ended Saturday and the process will now continue in Rome.
The diocese phase is actually a specific court hearing guided by special rules.
Witnesses were heard by a tribunal, historians searched archives trying to find out as much as possible about the life, work, qualities and death of Bula and Drbola.
Historian Jan Ruzicka said they undoubtedly died because they were priests. As laymen, they would not have most probably been executed.
Postulator Karel Orlita said it is not possible to estimate how long the Rome phase will last because no deadlines are set. He said the shortest period may be five years.
Bula and Drbola were executed in the Babice case in 1951. The murder of three Babice local authority officials served as a pretext of repressions against the Catholic Church. Both priests were hanged in Jihlava, south Moravia.
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