“A man from State Security came to me. What they did was that they always wanted to catch you somehow. They started the conversation like this: ‘You like it here, right?’ We were lucky that at meetings of priests from the Focolare movement we had priests who had been through years of investigations and prisons. They clearly taught us what we should and should not do. StB men do not know the things which you don’t tell them yourself. That’s all. Secondly, you always need to demonstrate to them that you do not cling to anything: You don’t depend on your parsonage or your priesthood. Otherwise they would have something to catch you upon and keep you in check. Later I also learnt this from one priest who served in Pilsen. He had been a high-ranking official in Pacem in terris before. I used to tell him: ‘You should apologise to people and explain to them why you had actually been in Pacem in terris.’ He said: ‘You know, I could not imagine that I would not be serving as a priest.’ That was precisely how they kept him in check and he suffered because of it, and it was terrible.”
“They (people from the federal ministry of the interior) asked me: ‘What will you do when the petition 31 Points reaches you? It is already in Sokolov, and it will surely reach you soon, too.’ In my mind I thought: ‘Thank you for telling me.’ I realized that there was no point in denying it, because they knew precisely where the petition document was going. And so I replied: ‘What will I do? I will read it. And if I like it, I will give it to people to sign it.’ That’s what I did, anyway. That was the end, they did not say anything more, they did not reproach me for anything and they left. The consequence for me was that thank God I had not become a bishop at that time. I was afraid of it because the communist pressure was present there at that time. Bishop Liška and bishop Lebeda were ordained.”
“Bishop Liška called me: ‘Could you come to me tomorrow?’ I was a bit shocked, I thought: ‘This does not look good.’ I went to him. He ordered me: ‘Sit down.’ I sat down. The bishop said: ‘The Holy Father wants to ordain you and František Lobkowicz as auxiliary bishops of Cardinal Tomášek here in Prague.’ I stood up and asked: ‘What? Me? And why not Tomáš Halík, for instance, or Aleš Opatrný?’ He replied: ‘They have got time, now it is your turn.’ I told him: ‘This is a great mistake. This cannot be possible – I cannot be a bishop. Can I say no? Do I have to accept it?’ Bishop Liška said: ‘When archbishop Colasuonna announced to me that I was to become a bishop, I asked him the very same question, too. I asked him whether I could say no and refuse it. He said: You can, but we don’t do that to the Holy Father.’”
František Radkovský was born October 3, 1939 in Třešť u Jihlavy. His father worked as an independent cabinet-maker. František studied an eleven-year school in Telč and then the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University in Prague where he specialized in mathematical statistics. After graduation and military service he worked as a statistician in the State Research Institute for Research of Automation in Glassmaking Industry. Afterwards he started working in the Pedagogical Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. In 1966-1970 he studied the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Theological Faculty of Charles University in Litoměřice. In 1970 Prague Bishop František Tomášek ordained him a priest. František Radkovský then served in Mariánské Lázně as a curate for two years. In 1972 he became a priest in Františkovy Lázně and he stayed there until 1990. At that time he joined the community of Catholic priests and lay people - the so-called Focolare movement. He was repeatedly investigated and monitored by the State Security Police that registered him as a so-called enemy person. In March 1990 Pope John Paul II appointed him the titular bishop of Aggar and the auxiliary bishop of Prague. On April 7, 1990 František received his bishopric ordination from Cardinal František Tomášek. In 1990-1993 he served as the general secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republics and later of the Czech Bishops’ Conference. On May 31, 1993 Pope John Paul II appointed him the first bishop of the new Diocese of Pilsen.
