Cardinal Duka consecrated a new church in Prague at Barrandov

Prague - From today, believers and other residents in Prague have access to a new church that has been built in the Barrandov housing estate. Modern sacred buildings in the capital are more often emerging in the peripheries, where the population has grown in recent decades. Prague has a new church after more than ten years. The Church of Christ the Savior was consecrated today by Prague Archbishop Cardinal Dominik Duka.

Inside the church were only bishops, priests, and civil employees of the archbishopric who helped organize today's ceremony. Due to restrictions in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the organizers urged believers to stay home and watch the broadcast on television. Only a few dozen people, who maintained distance from each other, attended the consecration on-site. They followed the events inside the church on a screen. From 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, people will be able to come to the church individually for prayer and tours. It will also be possible to visit and view the community center.

The minimalist design of the new church was created according to the plans of architects Jakub Žiška and Pavel Šmelhaus and includes a community center with a hall, clubs, and a café. The spaces are meant to serve not only the parish but all residents of Barrandov. Concerts, discussions, lectures, and exhibitions can be held there; the center includes club rooms, a library, a children's corner, a café, and an adjacent playground.

The church, with simple geometric shapes and a white façade, fits into an environment primarily composed of panel houses, situated near a forest and close to Prokop Valley. It has a traditional single-nave layout, a distinctive portal, and a tower with bells; the interior is equipped with liturgical elements by sculptors Petr Váňa and Stanislav Kolíbal, who were among the guests today. The construction of the church cost 150 million crowns, one-third of which is financed by the Prague archbishopric, which also purchased the land from Prague 5. Private donors have contributed, and according to Father Josef Ptáček, some invested their life savings in the project.

Today’s Sunday was chosen for the church’s consecration, coinciding with the Feast of Christ the King. This is a relatively new holiday in the church, lacking even a century-long tradition. The title of king, along with other titles such as lord, expresses the authority that believers attribute to Jesus Christ over their lives.

A representative of the construction company presented Duka with a symbolic key to the church, which is now open for use. "The symbolism of keys reminds us of the foundation of our church (...) it is a symbol that the bishop is the first liturgist and the steward of the local church. But because he could do nothing without your help, priests, deacons, sisters, and brothers, I hand this key over to your spiritual administrator, Father Josef, and in him also to you. You have built a beautiful church, and I believe it will be beautifully taken care of," Duka told the parishioners. He handed the local pastor Josef Ptáček a chalice, a monstrance, and a copy of the Bible, which was donated to the parish by the Prague Archdiocese. Duka sprinkled the altar and the interior walls of the church with holy water, then went outside and performed the same acts on the exterior of the building.

Ptáček thanked the parishioners for helping to build the church, the workers who worked on it, and remotely greeted Bruno Barrand, a descendant of Joachim Barrand, the French paleontologist (1799 to 1883) after whom the district is named. According to him, Barrand's descendant has been following the construction of the new church all along. The main impulse for the preparations for the construction ten years ago was the insufficient capacity of the parish church of St. Philip and James in Zlíchov due to the increase in the population in Barrandov.