Priest Tomáš Halík to receive Order of Merit from German president

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has awarded the Czech Roman Catholic priest and philosopher Tomáš Halík the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his contribution to Czech-German reconciliation and furthering understanding among nations and religions.

Halík is to receive the award on October 21st, on the 41st anniversary of the day that he was secretly ordained priest in the German town of Erfurt in view of joining the underground activities of the Roman Catholic Church in then communist Czechoslovakia.