Tomáš Halík

Tomáš Halík (born June 1, 1948 in Prague) is a Czech public intellectual, Roman Catholic priest, and scholar.

He studied sociology and philosophy in Prague and in Bangor, UK. During Communist rule, he was banned from teaching and worked in various occupations, e.g. as a psychotherapist for drug addicts and alcoholics. He studied theology clandestinely in Prague and in 1978 he was secretly ordained as a Catholic priest in Germany. Before 1989 he was active in the so-called "underground church" and, in the 1980s, he was a close associate of Cardinal František Tomášek.

He often publicly discusses ethical issues, such as: racism, political and religious intolerance, the process of secularisation, as well as the process of European expansion and integration. As a visiting fellow, he held lectureships at both Oxford University and the Cambridge University. He was one of the external advisors of former Czech president Václav Havel.

Bibliography

* "O přítomnou církev a společnost" (For Present Church and Society). Prague: Křesťanská akademie, 1992. (Essays from 1989-91.)
* "Sedm úvah o službě nemocným a trpícím" (Seven Meditations about Serving the Diseased and Suffering). Brno: Cesta, 1993.
* "Víra a kultura" (Faith And Culture). Prague: Zvon, 1995.
* "Ptal jsem se cest" (I Asked The Roads). Prague: Portál, 1997. (Interviews with Jan Jandourek.)
* "Co je bez chvění, není pevné" (There is No Firmness Without Trembling). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2002.
* "Oslovit Zachea" (Addressing Zacheus). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2003.
* "Vzýván i nevzýván" (Both Called And Not Called). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2004.
* "Noc zpovědníka" (Confessor‘s Night). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2005.
* "Prolínání světů" (Overlaps of worlds). Prague: Lidové noviny, 2006.
* "Vzdáleným nablízku". (Close to the remote) Prague: Lidové noviny, 2007.

External links

* [http://www.halik.cz Tomáš Halík's homepage]