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Cardinal Duka rejects criticism of mass for president

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Prague, Nov 23 (CTK) – Czech Cardinal Dominik Duka considers the criticism of the Mass he celebrated for President Milos Zeman and the homeland on Friday, three days after Zeman addressed an anti-Islam rally, unjustified, Duka´s secretary Milan Badal told CTK yesterday.
A group of Christians said the Mass was a symbol that can hardly be understood otherwise than as the Catholic Church´s support for Zeman and his policy.
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said last week Zeman joined populists who tapped into fear of Islamic State and the migrant crisis by his speech at the meeting of the extremist Bloc Against Islam on November 17, a national holiday.
Badal said the Mass was part of a meeting between Zeman and Duka that had been agreed on for a long time. He said the Mass cannot be seen as support for Zeman´s political line.
Badal said Duka has been striving for good relations with all. Duka had good relations with the previous presidents Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus as well, he added.
Badal said the Duka-Zeman meeting mostly concerned the church´s long effort to reach property settlement with the state.
In July, Zeman and Duka signed a memorandum on the transfer of state-owned buildings in the Prague Castle complex to the Catholic Church on condition that the Church gives up any other claims for real estate at Prague Castle, the presidential seat.
In its criticism of Duka, the Christian group said the Mass for Zeman looked like a bargain, in which political support was swapped for a real estate deal.
The Mass was celebrated in a church that is part of the compound of the presidential chateau in Lany, central Bohemia.
Zeman´s protocol head Jindrich Forejt said last week the Presidential Office welcomed the proposal of the Catholic Church to celebrate the Mass as a very friendly gesture.
Such a service in the president´s presence was celebrated in the church that the state bought in 1921 for the first time, Forejt said.
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