A brave and honest man, said Duka at a mass for Kirk, whom he did not know until his death

On Tuesday at noon, people gathered at Prague's Cathedral of Our Lady before Týn to honor the memory of Charlie Kirk. The American conservative activist was shot dead last Wednesday. The mass was celebrated by Cardinal Dominik Duka, who condemned both his murder and the murder of a young Ukrainian woman in North Carolina. Kirk's opponents waited outside the church with banners, shouting "shame" at Duka as he left.

"He was a big media personality. I started following him around 2019, when I was on an exchange in the United States," Andrej, one of the visitors to the mass, told the iDNES.cz editorial office. According to him, Kirk's opinions are misinterpreted and taken out of context. "I think it's important that even when he spoke to his opponents, for example trans people or atheists, I think he always came from empathy and understanding," he describes.

“I want to be a part of Charlie Kirk’s idea, the free speech he stood for,” said one of the visitors. She had known Kirk for a long time, and his sudden death hit her hard, she said.

But there were also those among the participants who rather disagreed with Kirk's views. One of them was Jan Pavelka, who did not identify himself as either a supporter or an opponent of him. "I was bothered by the fact that he was very conservative. I am not a believer, so his Christian views mean nothing to me. But I knew him, I listened to him. I was interested in what was going on. He is a very influential personality," he explained. "I saw the video on Twitter right after it happened. I thought about it and I had an inner need to come here," he added.

"I came a little out of curiosity. In essence, it is right that a part of the Czech Catholic Church decided to organize a funeral mass for Charlie Kirk, and I see it as a gesture in support of certain conservative views," said another visitor, who said he had never heard of Kirk before the assassination. "I agree with some of his views, I don't agree with some. I rather disagree with a certain presentation of those views. But I appreciate that he was not afraid to go to the university to discuss them with students," he added.

Before the mass began, a small conflict occurred. One of the visitors attacked a young man holding a banner with one of Kirk's statements. The man then tore up the banner. However, the conflict ended peacefully.

The world is in danger, said Duka

The Mass itself was celebrated by Cardinal Dominik Duka. In his speech, he called Kirk a courageous and honorable man and reminded that this was not the first politically motivated violence in the US. He mentioned, for example, the recent shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, and during the Mass, in addition to Kirk and the victims of mass shootings, he also prayed for the victims of the war in Ukraine. "There are enough reasons to make it clear that this is not the way, and that the world is in danger," Duka said.

"Just as the suffering of the Israeli people and the Holocaust are currently being belittled, we have also been able to see how some who consider themselves light bearers of a new civilization are rejoicing," the cardinal said. He himself did not know Kirk until the news of his death. According to Duka, this speaks volumes about the current world, where people are attacked by hatred at every turn, but at the same time live in isolation and do not know what is happening in the world.

Kirk, according to Duka, was trying to understand where humanity was headed. "We're not doing a canonization process here and we're not making inquisitors who will pick and choose from his discussion posts," he said.

Turek, Foldyna and Rajchl arrived

Some politicians also arrived at the church, for example, ODS senator Zdeněk Hraba, Motorists' MEP Filip Turek, and SPD MP Jaroslav Foldyna sat in the pews.

"He was an American in an American environment, and conservative issues there are much tougher than here. I did not agree with all of his views, but with a large part of his main views, and if we do not take them out of context, I agree with that line," said Turek. According to him, the current situation in the United States, especially in cities where liberal politicians rule, is a tragedy.

"I wanted to make it clear that you can't solve problems between people by physically attacking each other. Hate has no place," Foldyna said after the ceremony. Like Duke, he didn't know Charlie Kirk before the assassination, but he agrees with his views. He called the protesters insane. "That's Bolshevism or fascism. It's hate, it's something that shouldn't be here," he added.

The mass was also attended by PRO head Jindřich Rajchl. He said he disagrees with Kirk on everything, for example, he is against his claim that death sentences should be public. However, he supports a return to conservative values.

"Of course, he was radical in his views, there's probably no point in hiding that. I'm a democrat at heart and I believe that everyone has the right to their own opinion, no matter how radical it is. I think the protesters for me also have radical views, but I would definitely not agree with them being harmed in any way or not having the right to express their opinion," said Rajchl. According to him, the shooter who killed Kirk is a coward who couldn't debate with him.

According to Rajchl, Kirk managed to find a way to reach the younger generation. "We conservatives in the Czech Republic are not very successful at that, although I have to say that I am very pleased that there were a lot of young people in the church. I am very happy about that," added Rajchl.

"Shame," the protesters shouted

After the ceremony, about a dozen protesters waited outside the church. They held banners reciting other of Kirk's statements, such as that death sentences should be public, swift, and televised, and that it was reasonable to put up with a few shooting deaths a year if it meant preserving the Second Amendment. They shouted "shame" at Duke as he left, and "fascist" at Turk.

"We came to remind people that this person was a fascist, racist and sexist and that it is not right to celebrate such people," Alžběta, one of the protesters, told the iDNES.cz editorial office. According to her, the assassination of Kirk did not affect her that much because she is used to similarly difficult topics from social networks. "I am used to seeing dead children on my phone because of the genocide in Gaza," she added.

"You are simply human hyenas. You have it all wrong in your head," one of the mass attendees shouted at the protesters as they left the church.

Kirk, a conservative activist, was shot in the neck during a debate Wednesday at Utah Valley University in Orem. Kirk was a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, who had flags flown at half-staff on federal buildings in his honor in response to his death and posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Zdroj: iDnes