Pope Francis Receives Dismissed Slovak Archbishop Bezak

Prague Post
April 10, 2015

http://www.praguepost.com/eu-news/46804-pope-francis-receives-dismissed-slovak-archbishop-bezak


Reasons surrounding dismissal of head of Trnava’s flock still unclear

The reception of former Slovak archbishop Robert Bezak, the circumstances of whose dismissal three years ago are still unclear, by Pope Francis in a private audience today is an important shift in the case, Slovak church analyst Imrich Gazda has said.

The information about the reception was carried by the Vatican press center and the Vatican Insider server. They did not say what the Pope and Bezak spoke about.

The popular priest Bezak was dismissed as archbishop of Trnava by Pope Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI in 2012. The church allegedly criticized the presence of homosexual priests in his surroundings and his stance on certain church issues.

The Vatican also allegedly had objections to Bezak often wearing civilian clothing, saying this discredited the church attire. However, no official reasons for Bezak's dismissal were given.

Slovak President Andrej Kiska also spoke about Bezak with Pope Francis during his first visit to the Vatican on Thursday.

Kiska did not elaborate on the contents of his talks with the Pope on the issue.

Gazda told the sme.sk server that Kiska's meeting with the Pope did not have any influence on the reception of Bezak today that was planned for some time and Bezak knew about it since he arrived in Rome on Thursday already.

"It is definitely a major breakthrough in his case and a surprise," Gazda was quoted by sme.sk as saying.

The very fact that Bezak met the head of the Catholic Church means that there has been some shift in his case. But it is difficult to say currently in which direction, Gazda said.