Róbert Bezák, the former archbishop in Trnava who was dismissed from his post last year, wants to leave Slovakia. He said so during a discussion with the editor-in-chief of the Týždeň daily, Štefan Hríb, held at the Pohoda multimedia festival in Trenčín on July 13, the Sme daily reported.
After his dismissal, the Church did not allow Bezák to appear in the media or hold a mass, but this ban is soon to expire.
Bezák discussed what he has gone through over the past two years, but he did not appear to be disappointed or pessimistic. He also admitted that his future might lie outside of Slovakia, the SITA newswire wrote.
“Though people like me, Slovakia is closing for me at this level,” Bezák said, as quoted by SITA. “I did not want it, but it is possible to live elsewhere too. It is a bit sad to be a dissident, but if it is necessary … I cannot live from people who are applauding me, know me, stop me on the street, it is not my life. My life is a mandate which I want and if I will have it somewhere else, I will go there.”
At the end of the discussion Catholic priest Anton Srholec came to the stage and gave Bezák blessings and prayed, Sme wrote.
Bezák was recalled from the post of Trnava archbishop on July 2, 2012, based on the results of the apostolic visitation held earlier in the year. He left to Radvaň, Banská Bystrica Region, where he currently serves as a remedial cleric, but this function will expire this August. His future place of work will be set by the Redemptorist Order, of which Bezák is a member.
Meanwhile, Ján Orosch became the new archbishop in Trnava on July 11.
Source: Sme, SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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