Original subtitles

Three, do you copy? Three, come in!

This is Three.

Why don’t you turn on your radio? I’ve been trying to get hold of you.

We were dropping off some cargo.

Tell the Doctor to report to the Chief.

Today. The old man’s getting worked up.

Roger.

- Over and out. - Over and out.

- One… - One…

- Two… - Two…

- Three. - Three.

You’ll rise at six. Then showers, morning prayer, mass, breakfast.

Class starts at eight. You’ll get your schedules soon.

Lunchtime begins at one. After that, outings.

Then scripture, self-study,

supper, evening prayer, and lights-out at 10.

If you don’t observe the regimen, you’ll get cautioned.

Three cautions and you’re barred from outings.

Praise!

The Spiritual’s office is in the other wing.

Be careful. The school is undergoing reconstruction.

Come in!

- Praise to Jesus Christ! - Praise!

Unto the end of time!

Father Franek sends you this.

Franek...

My friend and former classmate. He gave you great references.

Could you hand me those glasses? You are...

- Juraj. - Juraj.

The bigger ones, please.

If you’re Juraj...

- … you must be Michal. - Yes.

Cheers, boys.

Thank you.

We went through some crazy things, Franek and I.

He was a very good friend of mine.

- There. - Aren’t you going to have one?

I don’t drink. I have a bad stomach.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

I’ll be your confessor.

I’m responsible for your spiritual formation.

Last year

some of our brothers

strayed from the righteous path.

But I believe that from this moment onwards,

we will all be working the Lord’s pastures.

Let us hope that through our diligence

we will succeed in enhancing the yields.

Perhaps threefold,

perhaps a hundred-fold.

Let us pray that it be so.

One, two, three. One, two, three...

Top bunk’s mine.

You are listening to Radio Free Europe.

On 5 October, the collaborationist clerical movement Pacem in Terris

held its federal assembly in Bratislava.

The event was organised by Tibor Kovac, Dean of the Theological Seminary.

The assembly confirmed the progovernment leanings of the movement,

which has been aligned with the regime

since the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact troops.

Representatives of the underground church have sent a letter to the Holy Father,

condemning the activities of the Pacem in Terris movement.

TO WORK FOR PEACE IS TO SERVE THE LORD, PACEM IN TERRIS 1971-1980

It’s getting worse.

I can’t prescribe you any more corticoids.

You should go to Smrdaky. To the spa.

I don’t have time for that.

Ask to be reassigned to the traffic police.

You should get out more.

I want to be alone and get some sleep.

Try using a biolamp. Every morning and evening, but not more.

I hear you’re a direct man.

Nobody likes problems. Neither we, nor you.

I work for the church department.

I’m in charge of you.

Mind if I have a look around?

Rychly, Potocny, Holly.

Sit down.

Marcin, Kovac, Bednar.

Sit down.

These are your outing groups.

The recommended routes are on the bulletin.

Quiet!

Yes?

Why can’t we form the groups ourselves?

We formed the groups so you can get to know each other.

You could never do that otherwise. You’re each from a different diocese.

We should get some practice today.

Again?

- It’s been ages since we last played. - Praise!

Let’s at least do half an hour.

Three, two, one...

You messed up again.

- All right, one more time? - Yeah, and try a little harder.

Watch out!

Praise!

Who put this up?

Who put this up?!

I don’t know.

Those who have read the gospels

and looked closely upon Jesus Christ will understand

that a priest can never lend himself to any ideology or interest group.

That is why the Vatican has advised its clergy

not to collaborate with organisations which, directly or indirectly,

explicitly or implicitly, pursue political aims.

I received an order

to confiscate all your typewriters.

We’ll have them analysed to find our little pamphleteer.

- How many? - Sixty-four.

I...

I sincerely hope that none of you

has done anything that would harm our school

and get us in trouble.

Before we silently disperse, I’ll read out a list of names.

If your name is on the list, you will stay here

and be questioned by State Security.

Jan Marcin,

Martin Bajza,

Tomas Chudy.

Didn’t I have matches here?

Who was the guy they took away?

Every now and again they bring people in.

They say there’s an issue with your ID, or they summon you to the draft office.

If you want,

I can lend you some books.

Every community is fallible

and its fortitude is tested from within and from without.

Just like we are tested in our own lives.

This struggle has gone on forever.

But the Church lends its ear even to the weak and the destitute.

It has survived thanks to sacrifices that were often deemed senseless.

But those sacrifices always pointed the way to something sacred.

The life of the Church is measured in centuries and millennia.

What is that compared to the fate of a single man?

You’ve reached the Czechoslovak office of Radio Free Europe.

Say the code word and leave a message at the beep.

I saw Satan fall like lightning from the heavens.

A few days into the semester,

police raided the Bratislava Theological Faculty.

They seized the students’ coursebooks and typewriters

on suspicion that prohibited literature was being circulated at the school.

Such literature includes papal letters and biographies of saints.

Therefore, to prohibit it is to silence the word of God.

The boys trust you.

The Dean has lost control.

You need to steady the ship, otherwise heads will roll.

Mine,

and maybe yours, too.

Are you...

are you threatening me?

Find out who’s responsible,

otherwise they’ll close down the seminary.

Isn’t it enough that you made me break the seal of confession?

If not for us, you’d be sitting in jail.

You killed a man in that hit-and-run.

But let’s stop arguing.

We need to help each other.

What’s going on at the seminary isn’t good for either one of us.

I’m part of a small group. We meet in flats,

smuggle forbidden books from the West, mostly religious ones.

We send messages to the Vatican via couriers.

We call Radio Free Europe,

inform about the crimes perpetrated against people of faith.

Father Coufar is our leader. He’s ordaining a secret priest tomorrow.

That’s a crime, so I’ll understand if you’re not up to it.

His flat is most likely bugged.

We’ll have to make sure we’re not being tailed.

All groups will be meeting during the next Marian pilgrimage.

It’s possible there will be some preemptive arrests.

We must warn everyone to get ready.

‘Our Lady opened her arms,

and we saw an underground sea of fire.

Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form,

like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze.

Floating about in the conflagration,

raised by flames that issued from within them,

together with great clouds of smoke

now falling back like sparks in a fire,

without weight or equilibrium, amongst groans of pain and despair,

which horrified us and made us tremble with fear.

The demons had a terrifying likeness to frightful and unknown animals,

like black and transparent coals.

When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light,

know that this is the sign given to you by God

that he is about to punish the world for its crimes.’

Three, do you copy? Three, come in.

This is Three.

Why don’t you turn on your radio? I’ve been trying to get hold of you.

The body of Father Coufar was found on a dirt road.

His limbs were crushed,

probably as a result of his being run over by a truck.

His face was mutilated beyond recognition.

An autopsy revealed that he’d suffered a torn spleen and liver.

Death likely occurred as a result of organ damage and internal bleeding.

The State has once again shown to what lengths it is willing to go

to fight devoted members of Christ’s Church

who refuse to collaborate with the Communist regime.

(Czechoslovak anthem playing) Where is my home, where is my home?

Over leas are waters streaming,

On the hills blue forests dreaming,

Flowery wolds, Spring’s happy skies,

Like an earthly Paradise

There’s the land so full of beauty,

Czechia, my fatherland!

Czechia, my fatherland!

May the blessing of Almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

come down on you

and forever remain with you.

‘It is with deep sorrow that we announce the passing of Father Premysl Coufar.

The circumstances of his death remain unclear.

He was found after several days, beaten and tortured to death.

Father Premysl was a tireless pastor,

and even in these trying times, he could always find a way

to faithfully serve our Lord, Jesus Christ.

He was a man of uncompromising devotion,

and for that, he paid the highest price.’

Jozef and I are going to keep watch.

Start writing.

Nice place.

I was promised a bigger flat three years ago,

and still nothing.

‘We need you to bust a safehouse, ’ they said.

But that could take a year. Or two.

Or forever.

Let’s get properly introduced.

Tibor, I’m Frantisek. Call me Fero.

You’ve changed.

You don’t tell me anything anymore.

I don’t want to get you in trouble.

I don’t need your protection.

Those typewriters...

What about them?

Do you really want to know?

I’m going to save this school, even if everyone spits in my face.

Come on. It could’ve been worse.

Tomorrow everything goes back to normal. He’s been drafted.

So long, comrade!

They’re searching the whole seminary. I need you to smuggle something out.

Now?

That’s too risky.

Hide it.

Hide it where?

We would smuggle it out ourselves, but they’re watching us.

You want us to get caught?

Let’s wait until next week when the dust settles.

I told you he’s too chickenshit to do it.

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.

Come, let us worship Him.

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.

The one who has clean hands and a pure heart...

Good, well done.

All right, boys.

For next class, write an analysis of the text.

Juraj, let’s have a word, please.

You haven’t been to confession since the beginning of the year.

Is everything okay?

You know that confession is a vital part of your spiritual formation.

I have a different confessor.

All right.

You may go.

- Praise the Lord! - Unto the end of time. Amen!

Draft.

All right, so...

Is Juraj Bednar medically fit for military service?

Last time I was deemed unfit.

There has been a miracle. You’ve been cured.

Let’s take a break.

My sugar is spiking.

May I get dressed?

Do you believe in miracles?

I do.

But if I were you, I wouldn’t count on one.

Your mother is proud of you.

She hopes you’ll become a priest.

You shouldn’t let her down.

Or would you rather join the army?

You look like a sensible boy.

Pacem in Terris has clearly stated that members of the Catholic clergy

want to help the people of our country.

Despite that, enemies of socialism refer to Pacem in Terris

as basically a Communist organisation.

This old trick of reactionary propaganda,

spread through the foreign, seditious channels of Radio Free Europe,

cannot deceive anyone who is honest of heart and clear of mind.

I am convinced

that decent people of faith who are devoted to their motherland

have not a shred in common with these Pharisaic saviours.

Thank you...

I thank the Minister for his encouraging words,

which give us strength for our future work.

Please pay attention to the following announcement:

The Together for Peace conference starts tomorrow at 10 a.m.

It is organised by Pacem in Terris.

The conference agenda will be put up on the bulletin.

Attendance is mandatory for all students.

I repeat,

the Together for Peace conference starts tomorrow at 10 a.m.

It is organised by Pacem in Terris.

The conference agenda will be put up on the bulletin.

Attendance is mandatory for all students.

Please pay attention to the following announcement:

The Together for Peace conference starts tomorrow at 10 a.m.

It is organised by Pacem in Terris...

To everyone concerned about the unity and welfare of our Church:

We, seminarians, are commencing a hunger strike

in protest of Pacem in Terris.

This organisation jeopardises the integrity of the Catholic Church.

Do not fear those who wish to break the body.

What if it’s a set-up?

What if it isn’t?

Do you really want our seminary closed down?

Is that what you want, boys?

Why did we suffer all those years?

What was it all for?

You think that what’s going on now constitutes trouble?

Trouble starts

when militiamen pour in from the factories and throw us all out the windows.

I urge you all to stop acting out and start eating.

Start eating.

We could’ve said it was just youthful folly.

But it’s too late now.

We’ll have to let some people go.

The real question is, will they be just students?

The Lord is a friend of silence.

In nature, the trees, the plants and the flowers all grow in silence.

Also the sun and the moon navigate the heavens in perfect calm.

The most direct way to talk to our Creator

is in the silence of our hearts.

Until further notice, I am declaring silentio.

No one will talk to anyone else.

We need silence to be able to touch our souls.

It was me.

I wrote the call.

For the hunger strike?

Why didn’t you tell me?

You don’t tell me things, either.

Bednar, to the Dean’s office.

Now!

Speak.

Who else was seeing Coufar?

What did you do there?

I don’t know what you’re talking about.

24 November.

What were you doing there?

We did spiritual exercises.

Who else was there?

Whose idea was the hunger strike?

Who wrote the call?

You should be more cooperative. You’re a reasonable young man.

The comrades from State Security already know everything, anyway.

What is this?

It says you’ll talk to us from time to time.

You want me to be an informant?

You led us to Coufar.

We know he ordained people without state approval.

Sign.

Did Michal tell you that?

The hunger strike...

It was me.

Don’t tell anyone.

May his soul be saved. Amen.

I know he imagined things a little differently.

But if you leave now,

what will have been the point of it all?

You need to understand, we’re not here to be happy.

MINISTRY OF INTERIOR, REGISTRATION NUMBER