Josef Hlouch

Josef Hlouch (26 March 1902 – 10 June 1972) was a Czech Roman Catholic prelate and theologian who served as the Bishop of Budweis from 1947 until his death. Hlouch first served as a parish priest and professor in Olomouc and other places before he was appointed to the episcopate following a standoff between ecclesial authorities and the Nazis as to whom would assume the Budweis episcopal see. He was installed in his new diocese at a time when communist authorities solidified their control over the then-Czechoslovakia which prompted Hlouch and other ecclesial leaders such as Josef Beran to speak out against communist repression. Hlouch was placed under house arrest and later exiled from his diocese but the Prague Spring allowed for him to return in 1968.

The late bishop became known for his holiness and for his leadership of his old diocese and in 2015 the Czech Episcopal Conference lodged a formal request to Rome to open the beatification process. The process opened on 7 November 2017 and he became titled as a Servant of God.