MF Dnes, Cyril Svoboda, October 4, 2025.
The events at the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University do not particularly interest the general public. Few are genuinely concerned with who serves as its dean or who teaches there. These matters concern only the academic community (students and faculty) and the academic bodies of the faculty and university respectively. Unfortunately, most people do not consider theology a science, though they respect that each person may study what interests them.
The situation interests me because I have taught at the faculty as an external lecturer. My concern is not with individual actors, but with the reputation of the Catholic Theological Faculty and, by extension, Charles University.
A serious conflict is underway at the theological faculty. Fundamentally, it involves two disputes. The first concerns the directive that all university faculties seek savings, and the second concerns faculty development to ensure prerequisites for improving the quality of science, research, and teaching.
The first step toward fulfilling this directive was taken by Dean Prof. Vojtěch Novotný, as did all deans of Charles University. Under his leadership, new accreditations of study programs were implemented according to the revised Higher Education Act. The assignment was fulfilled very well. Subsequently, an evaluation of all academic staff's performance had to be conducted to ensure that the teaching of study programs corresponded to the accreditation decisions. This presupposed a reorganization of work positions, particularly external lecturers, to reduce the number of staff working on agreements. This reduced the number of employees and led to an update of the job descriptions of core academic staff according to the newly implemented accreditations of study programs.
This adjustment affected me personally; the dean terminated my external collaboration, and I respected his decision. It also affected the position of Prof. Tomáš Petráček, who interpreted the situation in his own way and thus brought it to media attention.
The media pressure triggered by Prof. Tomáš Petráček's forced departure from the faculty led then-Dean Prof. Vojtěch Novotný to resign. It should be noted that the publicized reasons were not fundamental. The key factor was the appeal from university academic bodies that conditions be established at all faculties to guarantee decisions regarding accreditations of individual study programs. Doc. Jaroslav Brož was elected as the new faculty dean. He had to continue the faculty restructuring. He had no alternative.
This was not an easy task for any of the deans, as during that period, academic staff remuneration was additionally "regulated" by legal norms, and university deans, including Doc. Jaroslav Brož, were tasked by the university rectorate with aligning salary tariffs for teachers according to updated job descriptions for each of them, without receiving additional funds. Reserves had to be found within the faculties. Doc. Brož addressed the problem of obtaining resources also by deciding not to renew fixed-term employment contracts for several individuals. This is a managerial decision that many deans at universities must make, and typically it passes without comment.
Not so at the Catholic Theological Faculty. The legitimate managerial decisions of Dean Jaroslav Brož led to his dismissal. None of his actions as an administrator were deemed unlawful. From media sources, I have gathered that a recent inspection by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports found no serious deficiencies in the status and scope of activities of academic staff who perform both pedagogical and creative work, nor in preparations for the 2025/2026 academic year.
The faculty's Academic Senate proposed the dean's dismissal, and University Rector Prof. Milena Králíčková proceeded accordingly. The dean subsequently petitioned the court to declare the decision regarding his dismissal invalid. The court has not yet issued a final judgment in the matter.
This is where the story should have ended. Had the principles of the rule of law been further observed, it would have been appropriate to await the court's final decision to ascertain whether Dean Doc. Brož had been properly dismissed. The university and faculty should have insisted upon this.
Instead, rather peculiar events began to unfold. First, the faculty's Academic Senate voted again on the proposal to dismiss Dean Jaroslav Brož, and again proposed to Rector Milena Králíčková that he be dismissed. I do not understand why. If the faculty's Academic Senate was confident in its original decision, why did it vote again? Presumably, it was not confident in its original decision.
And Rector Milena Králíčková is not only the first woman in her position in the university's history, but also the first rector to personally deliver a dismissal decision to her employee during sick leave, namely Jaroslav Brož. He was on sick leave at home at the time of delivery and was not accepting mail. I do not assess Mr. Jaroslav Brož's health condition, but if he was properly on sick leave, he has the right not to receive anyone or anything at home. The rector sought entry to his apartment with the assistance of integrated rescue system components, including the Police of the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, she did not succeed in delivering the document. Mr. Jaroslav Brož was within his rights. (This resembles a scene from Jára Cimrman's theater.)
Why is Rector Milena Králíčková engaging so extraordinarily personally? Normally, documents are delivered by rectorate staff, not the rector. The rector is presumably seeking support in the Academic Senate of Charles University, as she is running again for the position of rector. Through this theater, she seeks to secure votes for her election.
The theological faculty is led by the statutory deputy, Vice-Dean Aleš Prázný. After dismissing Dean Jaroslav Brož, the rector appointed Ms. Michaela Falátková to head the faculty. The faculty's Academic Senate rejected her decision as unlawful. Thus Vice-Dean Aleš Prázný continues to lead the faculty. Curiously, Vice-Dean Aleš Prázný in his role as the dean's statutory deputy represents a point of conflict for the faculty's Academic Senate. In a press release (August 25, 2025), the faculty's Academic Senate states that Doc. Aleš Prázný, who was appointed to the position of vice-dean with his consent and was simultaneously entrusted with performing the duties of acting dean, "declares himself the faculty's statutory representative", whose mandate allegedly derives not from the will of the academic community but from a legal vacuum caused by a purposeful lawsuit. The Academic Senate continuously publicizes the case and simultaneously considers interventions from outside—whether from church representatives, state administration, or political structures—as impermissible disruption of academic self-governance and university autonomy, and rejects attempts by self-appointed persons or external influences to question the faculty's legitimate self-governing processes. If I understand correctly, in this context it evidently also considers court decisions as external interference.
His dismissal, the adjustment of the powers of the appointed dean and vice-deans were voted on several times. In September 2025, the Academic Senate proposed and dismissed Vice-Dean Prázný from the position of acting dean.
The faculty's Academic Senate's procedure is absurd, because the Municipal Court in Prague issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting the rector from appointing a new dean or entrusting a third party with leading the faculty until the court's legally binding decision.
The unusual proceedings continue. Although the court has not decided on the dismissal of original Dean Brož, the faculty's Academic Senate announced an election for a new dean on September 30, 2025. What if the court decides that Mr. Jaroslav Brož is still the faculty's dean?
The entire story points to the state of university leadership, and it would suffice merely to proceed according to established rules, without taking extraordinary, absurd steps.
Cyril Svoboda
