(ANS - Bratislava) - The Slovak Salesian Fr Anton Srholec has been awarded the prestigious Leopold Kunschak prize. This is the 50th year of the award which is given by the Austrian authorities to people distinguished in the field of humanities, social sciences, economics, labour, social medicine and journalism.
Fr Srholec is almost eighty-six years old. He is known for his commitment to the poor and the weak and as a staunch defender of human rights, even during the communist regime, when he was detained for a long time. The newspaper Morning Slovakia reports that the Salesian is still President of the Confederation of Political Prisoners of Slovakia and is committed to shedding light on the totalitarian period from 1948 to 1989 and its victims who are still awaiting justice.
Anton Srholec was born in Skalica on 12 June 1929 to a family of small farmers. As a teenager he attended the Salesians. In 1951 he tried unsuccessfully to escape from Czechoslovakia because the communist regime did not allow him to pursue theological studies. He was imprisoned for ten years, eight of which were spent in hard labour in the notorious uranium mine in Jachymov. Only in 1969 did he receive a permit to stay in Italy where he spent two semesters at the Salesian University in Turin. In 1970 he was ordained priest in Rome, by Pope Paul VI.
After the Prague Spring he devoted himself particularly to youth ministry and was in conflict not only with the communist government but also with the official Church. He was transferred several times and was temporarily banned from the exercise of priestly ministry. Fr Srholec remained active in organizations for Human Rights and social initiatives, and in 1992 he directed "Resoty", a social project that dealt with homelessness in Bratislava.
The award ceremony took place at the Austrian Parliament in Vienna on 22 May. Fr Anton’s brother Michal accepted the award on his behalf from Reinhold Mitterlehner, Austrian Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economics. A ceremony is being planned for 10 June in the Chapel of the "Hofburg" complex to honour Fr Srholec.
The former President of the EU Council, Herman Van Rompuy, was given the award at the same time as Fr Srholec. Those honoured in the past include the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, the union leader and later President of Poland, Lech Walesa.
Published 29/05/2015
