Štěpán Trochta

Štěpán Trochta (; 26 March 1905, Francova Lhota – 6 April 1974, Litoměřice) was a Czech Roman Catholic cardinal in the former Czechoslovakia who served as the Bishop of Litoměřice from 1947 until his death and was a professed member from the Salesians of Don Bosco. Trochta was considered a staunch defender of ecclesial rights and privileges in Czechoslovakia which the communist regime had sought to limit and suppress; Pope Paul VI (who made Trochta a cardinal) labelled Trochta after his death as a "defender of the faith" due to his commitment in standing up for Church rights and beliefs. He was a prisoner of war during World War II and for the decades after was stopped from performing his ecclesial duties until the end of his life when he was permitted to do so.

Life Education and priesthood Štěpán Trochta was born on 26 March 1905 as the eldest child to František (1880-1912) and Anna; he was baptized as "Štěpán Maria". In June 1960 he was amnestied but was forbidden to resume his clerical activities which led him to work as a plumber and construction laborer. In February 1962 he suffered a heart attack (remaining in hospital until 1963) and so was allowed to still retain his position but retire from official duties in November 1962 to a home for priests in Tábor in 1963 and then in Radvanov in 1964. In autumn 1968 he first met Pope Paul VI, who appreciated his work and witness. On 20 July 1969 the supreme court struck down his old conviction as a violation of his legal rights. Pope John XXIII had invited Trochta in 1962 to attend the Second Vatican Council but the Czech authorities did not grant him permission to travel to Rome.

In November 1968 he went to Rome for his second "ad limina apostolorum" visit and on 23 November met with Paul VI in a private audience. He then met with old Salesian friends in Turin before returning home before Christmas on 22 December. In February 1969 he led a pilgrimage to Rome to commemorate the death of Saint Cyril and on 30 January 1971 met with Paul VI in another private audience. On 29 October 1972 he attended the beatification of Michele Rua and on 15 February 1973 met with Paul VI in another private audience.

Cardinalate Pope Paul VI named Trochta as a cardinal in pectore on 28 April 1969 and the appointment was made public in on 5 March 1973; he was elevated as the Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni Bosco in Via Tuscolana with the titular church being raised pro hac vice. Agostino Casaroli delivered the news of his appointment to him on 5 March and Trochta was noted to have been surprised but received the news with considerable calm. On 6 April he arrived in Rome at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport where Casaroli and Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio greeted him. He received the red hat and title on 12 April 1973. Trochta made his formal installation in his new church on 15 April after having celebrated a 13 April Mass for the staff at L'Osservatore Romano. He met with Paul VI once again in a 14 April private audience and returned home to his diocese on 16 April. He attended the two synods with the first being from 11-28 October and the other from 30 September to 6 November 1971.

Death and funeral Trochta died on 6 April 1974 in Litoměřice. He suffered a severe stroke on the morning of 6 April and was rushed to hospital where he died after having never regained consciousness. Trochta had undergone an operation in March 1974 but a week later on 5 April a communist official named Dlabal came to see him in the morning for a quasi-interrogation. The drunken officer was threatening and insulting to the wearied cardinal throughout the six-hour interview (11:30am to 5:30pm). He had a restless night and the next morning a nurse found him in severe pain from a cerebral hemorrhage.

There were 3,000 people present for his 16 April funeral including the Vatican's apostolic nuncio to Eastern Europeo, Archbishop Luigi Poggi; Cardinal Franz König of Austria; the German cardinal Alfred Bengsch, Archbishop of Berlin; and the two Polish cardinals, Stefan Wyszyński and Karol Józef Wojtyła - the future Pope John Paul II, who declared him a "martyr" during his speech at the funeral.

Failed beatification cause His cause for beatification was once a focus for the nation's episcopal conference around 2008 but after a period for preparation was scrapped. Local Church historian Jaroslav Sebek said in 2017 that the cause had no chance of ever beginning since Trochta had been "discredited" by the communist secret police (StB). Bishop Enrico dal Covolo - himself a Salesian - supported opening the cause as late as 2010.