Churches are preparing for the Night of Churches, opening 32 temples and prayer houses

Brno - Churches in Brno, Plzeň, and eight other cities in the Czech Republic will open to the public on the night of May 29. Churches will hold the Night of Churches for the first time in the Czech Republic. The most, 18 temples and prayer houses, will be open in Brno, where the event will also be announced at 5:45 PM with church bells ringing throughout the city. People will recognize the participating places by colorful textile banners already today. The organizers have also published a list of them, along with the program, on the website, they told reporters today.
    Most of the churches in Brno will be open in the center. According to Bishop Vojtěch Cikrle, the Night of Churches will allow people who walk past the temples daily, perhaps with distrust, to look inside. They can admire the architecture of the buildings, peek into crypts, towers, sacristies, or monastery gardens. The program includes concerts, theater performances, discussions, art workshops, and prayers. Among others, Priest Tomáš Halík and astrophysicist Jiří Grygar will perform.
    The Night of Churches is organized by six Christian churches - Catholics, Baptists, Evangelicals, Orthodox, members of the Brethren Church, and the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. "It is also an opportunity for our own members to visit other congregations, other churches, and breathe in a different spiritual tradition," said Jan Asszonyi from the Brethren Church. The Night of Churches will also expand to the central Brno square, Náměstí Svobody, where the Church of St. Nicholas stood in the 19th century. The program there will offer seating in a café, attractions for children, as well as concerts and performances.
    The Night of Churches spread to the Czech Republic from Austria, where believers spontaneously organized it for the first time in 2005. Last year, 500 churches in Austria were visited by 270,000 people. The organizers could not estimate how many people would attend the Brno event. At a similar event called Museum Night, thousands of people toured churches this year, according to the spokesperson of the bishopric, Martina Jandlová, about 10,000 passed through the cathedral alone. "Perhaps the night atmosphere has a different charm than during the day," Jandlová said.