Cardinal Dominik Duka has faced criticism after celebrating a funeral Mass in Prague for the murdered American political activist Charlie Kirk.
The Requiem Mass was held on Tuesday at the Church of Our Lady before Týn on Old Town Square and drew several hundred people, including politicians. Organisers said mourners would be invited to lay wreaths and mourning ribbons at the nearby Marian Column after the service.
Demonstrators gathered outside the church, holding banners that described Kirk as a “fascist, racist and sexist” and shouting “shame” as the 82-year-old retired archbishop arrived to celebrate the Requiem. Police intervened after a scuffle between supporters and opponents shortly before the Mass.
Cardinal Duka said he had not known Kirk before his murder and condemned the killing, while warning against attempts to glorify Charlie Kirk as a saint. The service was arranged by the Catholic St John’s Festival Navalis group.
Charlie Kirk, 31, founder of the American conservative group Turning Point USA, was shot dead last week at a university event in Utah. Prosecutors in Utah have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with murder. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
The decision to hold a Catholic Requiem for Charlie Kirk proved divisive in the Czech Republic, where political debate is already sharpened by the approaching parliamentary election.
Supporters described the Mass as an occasion to pray for the dead with Jan Wolf, a Prague city councillor for the Christian Democratic KDU-ČSL party, promoting the commemoration on social media, praising Kirk’s role in building political influence.
(Photo credit should read MICHAL CIZEK/AFP via Getty Images)
