Jaroslav Brož, a former dean of the Catholic Theological Faculty, is running again for the position amidst ongoing disputes that have kept the faculty under forced administration since last September.
Jaroslav Brož and Jiří Dvořáček are the two candidates for the dean position of the Catholic Theological Faculty at Charles University. The election is scheduled for March 3rd, and the election committee confirmed that both candidates meet all the necessary requirements. The faculty is currently under the leadership of Rector Jiří Zima after a series of controversies culminated in the ministry of education placing the faculty under forced administration last September. These disputes are primarily about leadership issues following Brož's dismissal.
Brož, who had served as the dean since May 2024, was removed from the position by former rector Milena Králíčková at the request of the academic senate last February. Following his dismissal, he sought legal recourse from the Prague Municipal Court, which temporarily reinstated him. However, Králíčková dismissed him again last summer based on a new proposal from a different academic senate. Brož once again challenged this dismissal in court, but this time his request for a stay was denied, and in December the municipal court rejected his case entirely.
The ongoing conflict at the Catholic Theological Faculty reflects larger tensions within the university concerning governance and academic freedom. The outcome of the upcoming election not only determines the leadership of the faculty but may also set precedents for how similar disputes are handled in the future. As such, the situation is closely observed by various stakeholders within academia and could influence broader discussions on educational governance in Czechia.
