Catholic church head forgives communists but would like to see today’s Communist Party banned

The head of the Roman Catholic church in the Czech Republic says that while he has forgiven communists for the crimes of the past, he would still like to see the present-day Communist Party banned, the news website novinky.cz reported. In a statement on his website, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk wrote that though he had personally been harshly persecuted under the previous regime, as a Christian he forgave the perpetrators. But he said the communist ideology was still harmful to society today, adding that the issue of banning the party should have been dealt with during the Velvet Revolution in 1989. The Communists are today the third biggest party in the Chamber of Deputies.