CNT Chairman Irena Edwards attends the Templeton Prize Ceremony

Tomáš Halík, a Czech Roman Catholic priest and philosopher, has collected the prestigious Templeton Prize on May 14, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. The Templeton Prize honours individuals whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.

The John Templeton Foundation has highlighted the fact that Tomáš Halík risked imprisonment for illegally advancing religious and cultural freedoms after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, and that he has become a leading international advocate for dialogue among different faiths and non-believers.

Tomáš Halík has collected the Prize, valued at £1.1 million, at St Martin-in-the-Fields which is located in the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square. He intends to donate the sum mainly to initiatives focusing on the dialogue among different faiths and non-believers. According to Lidové noviny, a Czech newspaper, Mr. Halík will put the money into his newly created foundation.

Tomáš Halík talked not only about the general questions of faith and the importance of an interfaith dialogue, but he also commented on the current social and political issues as part of his speech at the ceremony.

Czech National Trust becomes a member of INTO

On February 24, 2014, the Czech National Trust has officially been accepted as a candidate member by the International National Trust Organisation Board. We have thus officially become a part of the international family of national trusts, members of which are for example the National Trust (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), National Trust of Australia, Heritage Canada – The National Trust, National Trust for Historic Preservation (USA), Europa Nastra (Belgium), Sumatra Heritage Trust (Indonesia) and others.

INTO – International National Trusts Organisation – is an international network of National Trusts and similar non-governmental organisations, globally diverse but united in a shared commitment to work through cooperation, coordination and comradeship. The overarching mission of INTO is to promote the conservation and enhancement of the cultural and natural heritage of all nations for the benefit of the people of the world. INTO works to develop and promote best conservation practices, increase the capacity of individual organisations, establish Trusts where they do not presently exist, and advocate in the interests of heritage conservation.

More about INTO can be found here.