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A year has passed since the tragic events at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University on 21 December. On Saturday, the academic community honoured the memory of the 14 victims with several events. At the same time, people came to light candles, lay flowers and pay tribute to the lives lost in front of the faculty building on Jana Palach Square throughout the day.

The memory of the victims of the shooting not only at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, but also in Prague Klánovice, was honoured in the afternoon by the commemorative concert One Year After, which took place in the academic parish in the Church of the Most Holy Salvator. The authors of the commemorative project are Martina Vídenová, a PhD student at the Institute of Musicology at the Faculty of Arts, and Miroslav Tóth, a composer. For this occasion, they composed two compositions dedicated to the victims, their families and loved ones. The authors also introduced SOFA, Society for All, a non-profit organization that cares for the mental health of children and adolescents. The concert was broadcast live on public broadcasters Czech Television and Czech Radio, and viewers and listeners could support the organisation financially during the broadcast using a QR code on the screen or via the platform donate.cz/sofa. The broadcast and the musical performance were interpreted into Czech sign language.

The concert was attended by the president of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, the rector of Charles University Milena Králíčková, the dean of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, Eva Lehečková, and Professor Tomáš Halík, the parish priest of the local parish. These three personalities from Charles University spoke before the first piece was performed.

Determination, faith, hope, trust in others

“We are meeting at an event that stems directly from the activities of the students, for which let me thank all those who have devoted themselves to its preparation,” said Milena Králíčková, the rector of Charles University, at the beginning and reminded that the place where the commemorative concert is being held has been a student church since 1990. “Twenty years ago, a decree was issued by the Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, stating that the Church of the Most Holy Salutatorian is a parish for students, staff and employees of Prague universities. Today, we meet here one year after the tragic event at the Faculty of Arts of our university. And even though we feel the pain and remember, today we do not only think about the loss, but we also perceive the strength that has emerged from our academic community this year,” the rector continued.

“Education or creative activity was an important value for our deceased colleagues. They believed in the power of knowledge, they believed that this knowledge would help to develop their personalities and our society as a whole. One way to honour their memory is to continue the journey they started. Not just for ourselves, but for them. Every book read, every exam taken, every research project undertaken can remind us of their journey to education. In order to cope with the tragedy we have experienced, we have had to balance the evil with an equally powerful good. We have had to rediscover determination, faith, hope, trust in others, and trust in our academic community. The past year has taught us the importance of being able to come together and overcome any evil, problem or obstacle. At the same time, I know that each of us has had to walk our own path. Therefore, let me conclude by wishing you all the best of strength for all the days ahead. I wish you to continue to be able to look for and find support and hope in anything, and especially in each other,” she concluded.

Mental health is key

The dean of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, Eva Lehečková, continued by thanking the students of the Faculty of Arts and their friends for their ideas and perseverance, which made the concert possible. “Today's memorial event is one of the stories of creativity and determination that we have experienced countless times in the year of renewal of our academic life at the Faculty of Arts. Therefore, I would like to thank all of you who have supported us in every way over the past year. We did not take it for granted and we always appreciated the help." The dean went on to thank all those who had heeded her wish expressed earlier this year - to take ownership of the need to support the mental health of children and adolescents - and joined forces for this cause.

“I would like to mention, for example, the establishment of the Resilience Centre at Charles University, the efforts of the Ministry of Education to support faculties training psychologists, the beautiful diary to support the mental health of our students and staff, which we published this week with the support of our alumna, as well as the fundraising dimension of today's concert. I believe these examples show that the topic of mental health will never cease to be central to all of us. We can do much that is needed and useful together in the coming year, and we can also find much needed comfort in working on it for ourselves,” she continued. “Today, however, belongs not to future plans, but to our sadness and memories. These await us in the silence of our hearts and do not belong to my words. But perhaps we have learned throughout the year that when these feelings overwhelm us and make our knees buckle, we always have someone beside us to lean on. I am grateful to all of you for facing the horror we have experienced with empathy and mutual support. For our faculty PF for 2025, we used a quote from Ewald Murrer's poem, I surrender to the night, open all the windows of my heart and let the fresh air in. I wish us all many open windows of the heart and lots of fresh air in the coming year. Thank you,” she said in conclusion.

Those who have gone before us live on in our memory

“Nearly half a century of my priestly ministry, listening to people's stories and nursing countless wounded hearts, has taught me respect for human pain, for the many faces of suffering. The loss of children is one of the most painful,” Professor Tomáš Halík began his speech by addressing those present who had lost their nearest and dearest a year ago. “You have experienced that passing through the landscape of grief, the shadow of death, and then returning to the usual course of life is a mentally and spiritually very demanding task, requiring time and understanding loved ones.” He recalled the Jewish tradition where the first anniversary of death is a time to symbolically end the grieving process.

“One day we must release our loved ones, give them the freedom to go. But that does not mean forgetting them. It means noticing that they are present in our lives in a different way. Those who have gone before us live on in our memory. Love gives us hope that death does not and must not have the last word.” He recalled the fact that we live in a dangerous world with many unpredictable risks. That it is not in our human power to remove evil from the world, nor is it in the power of our human rationality to fully understand and explain evil, and the importance of being sensitive and receptive to the needs and problems of those around us, creating a climate of genuine closeness in families, neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces. “Let us strive to bring into all the darkness of our world, of our hearts, a particle of Christmas light, of hope. I believe this is what those we remember here today would like to tell us,” he said.

After that, the singers and musicians took to the stage. The first piece performed was In perpetuum by musicologist and film music composer Martina Vídenová, with lyrics by Dominika Moravčíková, a PhD student at the Institute of Musicology at Charles University, followed by Ticho jako hurikán (Quiet as a Hurricane) by Miroslav Tóth with lyrics by Fedor Gál. The concert featured the Dystopic Requiem Quartet, the Prague Chamber Choir and soprano Lucie Silkenová, conducted by Jan Bubák. The compositions were dedicated to the victims, their families and loved ones. A recording of the concert can be heard on the Czech Radio website.

From the Church of the Most Holy Salvatore, the concert visitors went down Křižovnická Street to Jan Palach Square. There, a silent act of remembrance without speeches was held at the memorial in front of the building of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University. Shortly after 5 p.m., all present observed a nationally announced minute of silence in memory of the deceased. Then they had the opportunity to lay flowers and light candles at the site. During the memorial act, the Charles University Choir performed several songs.

At 6 p.m., a Mass was celebrated for the victims of the shooting in the Cathedral of St. Vitus, Wenceslas and Vojtěch at Prague Castle. It was celebrated by Zdenek Wasserbauer, Deputy Bishop of Prague.

Text: Tereza Kůstková

Photos: Michal Novotný