VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Stanislav Přibyl, one of the co-consecrating bishops of Vienna’s pro-female ordination Archbishop Josef Grünwidl, as archbishop of Prague in the Czech Republic.
On Monday, Pope Leo appointed Přibyl as the new archbishop of Prague, transferring him from his previous position as bishop of Litoměřice.
“A great inspiration for me is the Synod. One simply has to meet people and listen to them,” Přibyl said during an interview with Podcast Ecclesia.
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In the same interview, Přibyl addressed several aspects of ecclesial governance and pastoral life, emphasizing his view of authority, synodality, and lay participation. He rejected claims that Pope Francis’ involvement in episcopal appointments was merely formal, stating that “it’s definitely not as some people say: ‘Oh, the Pope didn’t even see it.’ Not at all, he saw everything … He really deals with every single case.”
Francis appointed Přibyl as bishop of Litoměřice on December 23, 2023 (even though the Vatican Bulletin contains a typo, giving the date as November), receiving episcopal consecration the following March 2, 2024.
Reflecting on the synodal process, Přibyl described it as fundamentally collaborative, explaining that “the process is a process of coming together. That is the syn hodos, the journey together,” adding that “we must be able to move within it, and that means more sharing of forces and being more inspired by each other.”
Speaking about relations between bishops and clergy, he highlighted the importance of fraternity among priests, expressing the desire to foster “a presbyterium with the priests on the foundation of such human friendship,” noting that “we will simply be friends,” suggesting a more horizontal and less hierarchical vision of the Church.
Přibyl served as secretary general of the Czech Bishops’ Conference from 2016 until 2023, before his appointment to Litoměřice. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he supported compliance with state regulations restricting public worship and promoted alternative forms of participation in religious services, especially online.
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In January 2021, anti-COVID restriction protesters in Prague wore yellow stars labeled nezaočkovaný (“unvaccinated”). Přibyl co-signed a joint statement with the Ecumenical Council of Churches and Federation of Jewish Communities condemning the protesters’ use of the yellow star as a “cynical and tasteless” abuse of a Jewish holocaust symbol, not legitimate political critique, and calling for a public apology.
“If anybody appropriates that symbol and, by using it, wants to draw an equivalency between themselves and the six million murdered in the concentration and extermination camps, that cannot be seen as anything other than a cheap, calculating cynicism that has exceeded all conceivable bounds,” said Přibyl.
