Internationally renowned theologian, prolific author and “underground priest” Msgr Tomáš Halík is coming to Sydney and Melbourne for a series of lectures. Source: Catholic Outlook.
Msgr Tomáš Halík will deliver the lectures as part of the “Bishop Vincent Presents” series in Parramatta Diocese and the Hélder Câmara lecture at Newman College, Melbourne. Leading academic and priest Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO will moderate the conversation.
Msgr Halík converted to Catholicism as an adult and was secretly ordained a priest in 1978 during the communist rule of then-Czechoslovakia.
A renowned public intellectual, philosopher, sociologist and priest, Msgr Halík is known for being a leading voice against Soviet communism in the 1980s, during which time he was persecuted by the secret police as an “enemy of the regime”. Msgr Halík has contributed to the revival of the Church in Czechia after the fall of communism. During this time, he also worked as a psychotherapist for drug and alcohol addicts.
He is a passionate voice for ecumenism, interfaith dialogue and religious tolerance, and his award-winning books have focused on the dialogue between faith, agnosticism and atheism.
As a professor of sociology at Charles University, Prague, president of the Czech Christian Academy and a university chaplain, he has a unique ability to reach out and discuss faith in different contexts. This has resulted in him preparing for baptism and baptising more than 1000 university students and young academics.
His best-selling book Patience with God received the prize for the best European Theological Book and in 2014 he was the recipient of the Templeton Prize, which is awarded to a living person who has “made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery or practical works.”
His public lecture in Parramatta will be on Monday, February 12, at 6pm and is titled: “Help my unbelief! Searching for God in a secular age.” The lecture will be given again in Melbourne at Newman College on Thursday, February 15, at 5pm.
Details and registrations: Sydney lecture and Melbourne lecture.
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Czech theologian Tomáš Halík to visit Australia (Catholic Outlook)
