Of 10 million Czechs, 80% have no church affiliation. Talk of God and religion "makes Czechs angry." People say, "I’m an atheist; I’m Czech," which puts them in contrast to their neighbors: Poles, Slovaks, and Hungarians are profoundly Catholic. Ostrava, in eastern Czech Republic, is an industrial "rust belt" and a more Catholic region; 80% of Czech priests come from this area.
In Czech lands, Catholicism was a German import, whereas in Poland, Christianity was taught by fellow Slavs. In 863 A.D., Greek missionaries encountered German Catholic missionaries. The Roman church "won" this competition, backed by the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which ruled central Europe from the year 962 until the Napoleonic Wars in 1806. Many Baroque churches were built by wealthy families in order to impress the Emperor with the families’ piety.
Jan Hus, rector of Charles University and a disciple of the English church reformer John Wycliffe, modernized the language in its written form and translated the Bible into Czech. The Emperor put him on trial for heresy in 1415; he was burned at the stake 102 years before Luther’s 95 Theses, and to this day he is regarded by Czechs as a martyr.
After 1627, the Habsburg ruler Ferdinand II also held the title of Holy Roman Emperor, initiated a repressive campaign of re-Catholicization that prolonged the Thirty Years’ War, begun in 1618. Estates such as Cesky Krumlov belonging to Czech protestants were seized and given to Catholic supporters.
http://www.encyklopedie.ckrumlov.cz/docs/en/osobno_ferhab.xml
Habsburg Emperor Josef II (1780-90), builder of the Terezin fortress to defend against northern invaders, banned the use of Czech language in business, education, and church. He did allow Czech Catholics to attend a second, afternoon service in their language. In the 19th century, educated people such as composer Bedrich Smetana, were bilingual (Czech and German). In the mid-1800s, a Romantic Czech nationalist movement was inspired by the work of historian and statesman Frantisek Palacky, who gave Czechs an account of their independent history and presented the Hussite movement in a favorable light as freedom fighters against German oppression. After WWI, many of the newly-independent Czechs had their names excised from church baptismal records as "payback" for the centuries of foreign oppression. After WWII, Czechoslovakia was fertile ground for Communism. The Communist regime would not allow churches to make repairs, and typically would close church buildings "until further notice."
In response to question, "Will the pendulum effect bring young Czechs back to the church?"
- Yes, as seen in the increasing rate of baptism in the 14-22 age group.