In Czech Republic, OCCLS labeled a security threat at closed presentation

The Center for Joint Activities of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Source: cs.wikipedia.org

In the Czech Republic, the Orthodox Church was presented as a threat to national security at a closed presentation of the report "Security Risks of the Orthodox Church," which took place on January 14, 2026, at the Czech Academy of Sciences and later became the subject of publication in Czech media. This is reported by the Czech editorial office of the UOJ.

In an article titled "The Czech Orthodox Church as a Security Threat" on the Dingir website, religious scholar Zdeněk Vojtíšek claims that the Orthodox Church in the Czech Lands and Slovakia allegedly poses security, economic, and even criminal risks to the state.

The article's author refers to the aforementioned report presented at the Academy of Sciences and claims that Orthodox structures in the Czech Republic may be linked to supporting Russian policy, spreading pro-Russian narratives, questionable property management, and even possible criminal activity. However, as noted, no specific cases, court decisions, or official conclusions from investigative bodies are provided in the publication.

The key "evidence" of the Church's alleged pro-Russian orientation cited in the article is a photograph of Archbishop Michael taken in 2023 with representatives of the Russian motorcycle club "Night Wolves". The author uses this episode as a symbol of the political position of part of the church leadership.

Particular concern was raised by text fragments discussing possible involvement of the clergy or laypeople in crimes such as smuggling, money laundering, or abuse of the seal of confession. However, as emphasized, not a single specific confirmed case was provided.

Jakub Jiří Jukl, a member of the diocesan Council of the Prague Orthodox Diocese, reacted sharply to the publication. In a comment to the UOJ, he stated that he had “serious objections” to Zdeněk Vojtíšek’s article.

“What particularly bothers me is that he makes serious accusations against the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands, yet provides no evidence. Except for a single thing — that Archbishop Michael was photographed with the Night Wolves three years ago. That strikes me as desperately insufficient,” said Jakub Jiří Jukl.

According to him, despite the article author's references to the report on "security risks," the reader never gets a clear understanding of what specific facts and evidence it contains. “Although the reader might have expected that the subsequent text would explain the content of this report, and especially provide evidence as to why our Orthodox Church poses a security risk to the Czech Republic, this did not happen,” he notes.

Jukl also stated that if the Orthodox Church really posed a threat to state security, its members would want to know about it so they could address such a situation. “It troubles me all the more because if our Church really did represent such a threat, we as its members would like to know, so that we could come to terms with it and confront it. I believe that the overwhelming majority of our Church truly does not wish to pose any security threat to anyone,” he adds.

Furthermore, the Prague Diocese representative refuted claims about the alleged "significant property assets" of the Orthodox Church. According to him, the Church's property is quite modest and incomparable to the property of most other registered religious organizations in the country, including dioceses, parishes, and monasteries.

As the UOJ wrote, the Orthodox Church in the Czech Republic faces the threat of losing special rights.

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