Daniela Ženatá

"My husband had it so decent under the Communists, they dragged him around for interrogations, but I guess they found out that they couldn't get much out of him, that he wasn't the right person to get anything out of, so they left him alone. There was an entire structure of communists and secret police who kept an eye on the priests—church secretaries at district and regional levels who pressured them. Anyone who stood out too much was slapped down, while those who focused quietly on their work were often left alone. Dan was a moderate middle ground. Back then, it was terrible—everything had to be written up and submitted to the secretary for approval, including who you wanted to invite to speak and so on. The parish priests had to learn to zigzag to be the bearers of some culture, education, the Word of God, so that they could invite those people in their congregation to some good event. There were no copy machines. There were cyclostyles. You had to number the bellows, keep records, and you had to go to the secretary with each bellows for approval. So any invitation that looked ugly, because there were no graphics, still had to be approved by the secretary."