DAYS OF THE PEOPLE OF GOODWILL 2019
Days of the People of Goodwill at Velehrad are surely the biggest celebrations connected with a national holiday of the Czech Republic. They have been taking place for 16 years already, on the occasion of the Day of the Slavonic Missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius.
more information
CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN FILM
The five-part docudrama will map the lives and work of the Slavonic missionaries Cyril and Methodius, primarily in an educational format.
more information
SCHOOL OF CYRIL AND METHODIUS
On the occasion of the “Cyrillo-Methodian jubilee”, educational workshops for children and youth will emerge, the main aim of which will be to familiarize children with the Cyrillo-Methodian legacy in an amusing and practical way.
CHILDREN WALK THE WAY OF THE TWO BROTHERS
‘The Way of the Two Brothers’ is the title of an art competition for children 3 to 11 years of age. It is regularly announced within the July Days of the People of Goodwill at Velehrad. The aim of the project is to explain roots of our culture to children, impairing a positive model for life in the present.
VELEHRAD
It is an important spiritual center, a destination of frequent ecclesiastic pilgrimages, gatherings and Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations.
more information

You are here:
Introduction »
News »
Conference "Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Period of Flourishing and Attempts at Silencing"

Conference "Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Period of Flourishing and Attempts at Silencing"

24. 5. 2013

In the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition had played an important role in the development of national movements in Central Europe and the Balkans. Celebrations of the millenium of the arrival of both missionaries in 1863 belonged to fundamental events in the history of Czechs, Moravians, Slovaks and Bulgarians. Likewise, the National Pilgrimage at Velehrad in 1985, which commemorated the 1100th anniversary of Saint Methodius' death, became one of the greatest anti-communist protests in the eastern block.

The conference titled "Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Period of Flourishing and Attempts at Silencing" will commemorate not only those events but it will also deal with the role and importance of the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in contemporary churches, in popular piety, in literature and arts. A number of leading Czech, Slovak and Bulgarian historians, ethnographers and theologians will present their contributions at the conference.

"I consider the arrival of the missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, to Great Moravia to be one of really important milestones in the history of our education. Thanks to them Slavs received their church language and script, which became an important tool of their education and further spiritual development. Charles University wants to contribute to the celebrations of this year's Cyrillo-Methodian anniversary with a reflection of their legacy in the context of historical periods of attempts at asserting national identity and freedom…", said Rector of Charles University, Prof. Václav Hampl, in this connection.

The festive opening of the conference will be attended by Cardinal Dominik Duka OP, Archbishop of Prague; Prof. PhDr. Petr Fiala, Ph.D., LL.M., Minister of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic; and Prof. RNDr. Václav Hampl, DrSc., Rector of Charles University in Prague. It will take place in the premises of Carolinum (Ovocný trh 3, Prague 1) on 3rd June 2013 at 6:30 p.m.
The part of the conference intended for experts will be held in the historical premises of Carolinum on 4th – 6th June 2013. Registration of those interested in attending the conference is possible via the following E-mail address: CyrilMetodej@ff.cuni.cz.

News

29. 6. 2013

1150th anniversary of Cyril and Methodius

Here are our roots.

(Blessed John Paul II, 22nd April 1990, Velehrad)

They wanted to become part of those nations and to share their destiny in everything. Here, in this place, at Velehrad, in Moravia, we can feel the historical legacy of the kingdom in a peculiar way – we can feel even those who became its keepers and guardians.

(Blessed John Paul II)
For us, people of the present age, their apostolate contains even the elocution of the ecumenical appeal, i.e. to build unity again, in a peaceful reconciliation, which later after their deaths was heavily damaged, and in the first place the unity between the East and the West.

(Blessed John Paul II)
Their work is also a very important contribution to the growth of the common Christian roots of Europe, which by their firmness and viability create one of the main contact points, which must be respected by every serious attempt at reunification of our continent in a new and topical way.

(Blessed John Paul II)
The story of both brothers, Cyril and Methodius, is a distinct example of unity.

Saints Cyril and Methodius contributed, to a great extent, to the building of Europe, not only regarding its Christian religious community but also concerning its civil and cultural unity.

(Blessed John Paul II)