He was a prominent archbishop who engaged in activities against the communist authorities and for the promotion of the ecumene (the understanding and union of primarily Christian Churches, originally from the Greek “oikúmené”, which means “the inhabited part of the world”).
Tomasek went to Slavonic high-school in Olomouc and in 1918 he entered the seminary, before being ordained in 1922. He moved up the ecclesiastical hierarchy – he was an assistant before the war, a docent after it and in 1947 he became professor. He was then elected Bishop by secret vote, before being arrested in 1951 and sentenced to forced labor in the Zeliva prison camp for priests. He was released in 1954.
In the 1960’s he participated to all the assemblies of the Second Vatican Council and he is remembered for his contributions about the international
ecumene. He was very much active against the regime, from which he requested that it would stop persecuting the Churches in the 1950’s. He refused to sign the Charter 77, because he felt that it comprised too many signatures of people who had formerly been close to the regime. He eventually softened his stance and started supporting it in the 1980’s.
He was appointed archbishop in 1977 and got into arguments with the State in the 80’s when, on St Cyril and Methodius Day, he proclaimed a “decade of religious revival”, which was a claim that aimed at the restitution of religious rights and democratic liberties. He also officially gave his support to the Velvet revolution in 1989. A year later, he accompanied Pope John Paul II on his first visit to Czechoslovakia. He later retired from his position as archbishop.
