Czech court rehabilitates parish priest Toufar, tortured to death by StB
The Regional Court in Hradec Králové has rehabilitated parish priest Josef Toufar who was arrested and tortured to death by the communist secret police in the hardline 1950s for allegedly faking a miracle.
According to attorney Lubomír Müller, who specializes in defending victims of communist oppression and who drafted the petition for rehabilitation, no one had pursued Toufar’s judicial rehabilitation since there are no living relatives. The priest died during the investigation, and he never received a fair trial.
Church historian Tomáš Petráček from the University of Hradec Králové welcomed the clearing of Toufar's name saying “It's good that this legal aspect is finally resolved.” Petráček is also advocating for Toufar's beatification, though Müller noted that it is an internal Church matter.
Father Toufar became one of the most famous victims of the post-revolutionary communist crackdown on the Church. He died in February 1950 after being tortured by the StB. Toufar was arrested following the “miracle of Číhošť,” when a cross on the altar allegedly moved during a mass in December 1949. The Communists used this to discredit the Church, viewing it as a barrier to rural collectivization.
In January 1950, the StB arrested Toufar, torturing him to confess that he had staged the event. He died a month later and was buried in a mass grave in Prague-Ďáblice. His remains were exhumed and returned to Číhošť in 2014.
