STOJAN, ANTONÍN CYRIL

STOJAN, ANTONÍN CYRIL. — Archbishop of Olomouc, born on 22 May 1851 at Beňov in Moravia, died there on 29 September 1923.

Coming from a modest family of farmers, he studied theology at Olomouc. Ordained a priest in 1876, he devoted himself to pastoral ministry until 1917, when he was appointed a capitular canon. From 1920 he governed the diocese as capitular vicar and from 1921 as archbishop. An excellent organizer, he developed intense religious, cultural, and social activity, including at the national level. Through great pilgrimages to the sanctuaries of Hostýn and Velehrad, he renewed the religious life of the popular masses, and through spiritual retreats, that of intellectuals. From 1897 he was a deputy in the Parliament of Vienna and then, from 1920, a senator of the Czechoslovak Republic. He promoted the Christian social movement in the spirit of the papal encyclicals, founding, among other things, in 1907, the association of Catholic agricultural youth (Omladina).

He made effective use of his parliamentary mandate in support of charitable, cultural, and religious works and institutions. To promote the union of dissidents with the Catholic Church, in 1891 he established the pious union « Apoštolát sv. S. Cyrila a Metoděje », which later spread to several other Slavic countries and from which a popular monthly publication arose in 1910. To the same

(photo Alinari)
STOLA – Deacon with a stole placed over the dalmatic according to the Ambrosian usage. Detail of the bas-relief by Matteo da Campione: the coronation of Otto III (14th century) – Monza, Cathedral.

For this purpose, but on the scientific level, S. organized three international unionist congresses at Velehrad. The Academia Velehradensis, established by S. in 1910, was intended to ensure the continuation of the unionist congresses and the publication of scholarly works on the Christian East. During the war of 1914–15, the archbishop was generous with aid and support for those persecuted for political reasons, including the Italians evacuated from Trentino. He may be defined as the most distinctive and popular figure of the Czech clergy in modern times. He died with a reputation for holiness, and the process of his beatification has been initiated.