Hromadka Exit

Josef Lukl Hromadka, 80-year-old president of the Prague-based Christian Peace Conference, has turned his back upon the movement he himself started. Hromadka, a long-time member of the World Council of Churches’ Central Committee, announced his resignation from the CPC when his co-worker, General Secretary Jaroslav N. Ondra, was ousted last month.

In the beginning of November, “member churches and regional organizations of socialistic countries” (the official wording, but read: Bishop Nikodim of the Russian Orthodox Church, who usually pays the bills) asked Ondra to resign. The official reason given at the executive board meeting in Buckow, East Germany, was that Ondra has given priority to the Czechoslovakian problems instead of the aims of the CPC.

That was near the truth. Ondra had officially protested against the Russian invasion of his country last year. The decision of the two Prague church leaders to quit the movement they founded climaxed a split that has hampered the CPC for the last year (see December 20, 1968, issue, page 34).

And there are signs many more will turn their backs on the CPC. The regional committee for West Germany already has hotly protested the forced resignation of Ondra. Committee members who kept quiet at the Buckow meeting were sharply criticized. This caused a West German split, and only three of the regional committee members stayed with the CPC.JAN J. VAN CAPELLEVEEN

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.