Prague, June 24 (CTK) – The examination of remains exhumed from a mass grave at the Prague-Dablice cemetery has proved that they belong to Czech Catholic priest Josef Toufar who was tortured to death by the communist secret police StB in 1950, two sources confirmed to CTK yesterday.
Toufar’s family, which demanded the exhumation from 1954, will receive the urn with the remains several days before the burial that will be held in Cihost, east Bohemia, on Sunday, July 12, according to CTK’s information.
In Cihost, Toufar served as priest and died.
Toufar (1902-1950) died after being tortured by the communist secret police investigating the event known as the Cihost miracle. In December 1949, a cross standing on the main altar of the Cihost church allegedly moved several times during Toufar’s sermon. The communist regime used the event as a pretext to persecute the Catholic Church.
Toufar was arrested and tortured. The police investigators wanted him to admit that he had moved the cross in order to fake a miracle. Toufar died of a burst stomach ulcer following brutal beating in February 1950. He was buried in a mass grave at the Prague-Dablice cemetery under the name Zouhar.
The exhumation is part of Toufar’s beatification process that was initiated by Hradec Kralove bishop Jan Vokal last year and that is likely to last several years.
kva/dr/rtj
