Preparations are underway for the return of the remains of Cardinal Josef
Beran to his homeland this weekend. The Cardinal’s remains will be flown
to the Czech Republic on Friday and will be buried in Prague’s St. Vitus
Cathedral, the final resting place of kings and cardinals, the next day.
This is in accordance with the cardinal’s last wishes.
Cardinal Josef Beran, a symbol of resistance to the communist regime, was
exiled to Rome in 1965, where he died four years later. He was buried in
the crypt of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican because the communist
authorities did not approve the return of his body to his homeland.
On Tuesday workers installed a new statue depicting the saints Vojtech,
Radim and Radla inside St. Vitus Cathedral. The idea for such a statue to
be placed in the cathedral emerged during the time when Cardinal Beran was
was still Archbishop of Prague and Primate of Czechoslovakia.