PRAGUE, Czech Republic, OCT. 22, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Czech Bishops’ Conference is affirming its desire to invite Benedict XVI to visit during the 2013 anniversary celebrations of the arrival of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in that region.
Archbishop Dominik Duka of Prague, president of the conference, confirmed on Wednesday this initiative to invite the Pope to participate in the 1,150th anniversary celebrations.
Irena Sargankova, conference spokeswoman, reported that representatives of Church in the Czech Republic will go on a Nov. 9-11 pilgrimage to Rome where they will meet with the Pontiff and thank him for his visit to their country last year.
Benedict XVI visited the Czech Republic in September 2009, coinciding with the anniversary of St. Wenceslaus, the national patron, and with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Communist regime.
During that trip he visited Prague, Brno and Stara Boleslav, Central Bohemia, where Wenceslaus was martyred in 935.
The 2013 celebrations will commemorate the arrival of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia, a 9th-10th century state that existed in a region now comprised by several countries, among them the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Archbishop Duka affirmed that the Church leaders in Slovakia will also be inviting the Holy Father to participate in the celebrations in their country.
Sts. Cyril and Methodius, «apostles of the Slavs,» were two Greek missionaries who introduced Christianity to that region in the 9th century.
