Antonín Cyril Stojan (22 May 1851 – 29 September 1923) was a Czech Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Olomouc from 1921 until his death.[1] He was a politician prior to this and served in several political capacities while also serving as a pastor in several parishes where he strengthened social and charitable activities.
Antonín Stojan was born in 1851 in Beňov as the fifth of eight children to parents František and Josefa.[2]
Stojan studied in both Kroměříž and Olomouc in preparation for the priesthood and received his ordination in 1876 from Cardinal Friedrich von Furstenburg; he served as a chaplain after his ordination in Příbor and was there for about a decade.[1] From 1888 to 1909 he served as a pastor at Dražovice. Stojan founded an apostolate to work for the unification of the Slavic people and served as a member of the Austrian Parliament (or Imperial Council) from 1897 until he served as a senator for Czechoslovakia from 1920 until his death, being succeeded by Bohuslav Koukal [cs].[3] He also served as the canon of the Olomouc Cathedral from 1917 and the provost of the Saint Maurice Kromeriz institute for seminarians.[1]
On 10 March 1921 he received an appointment from Pope Benedict XV as the newest Archbishop of Olomouc, succeeding Lev Skrbenský z Hříště,[4] and he received his episcopal consecration on the next 3 April from the then-Archbishop (future cardinal) Clemente Micara. He was installed in his new episcopal see and set to work organizing a range of charitable and social associations for the archdiocese while forming a charitable archdiocesan initiative in 1922.[citation needed] He also oversaw the restoration and the enhancement of places of pilgrimage such as the VelehradJesuit church. Stojan ordained as a priest the future Cardinal František Tomášek in 1922 and conferred episcopal consecration upon Bishop Josef Schinzel in 1923.[citation needed]
Stojan died in Olomouc on 29 September 1923 after he suffered from a brain aneurism on 11 May 1923.[2]
Beatification process
The beatification cause opened with an informative process in Olomouc on 14 July 1965,[2] and he became titled as a Servant of God while the process ended sometime later prior to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints validating the process in Rome in February 1996.[2] However the official start to the cause came under Pope John Paul II later that month with the formal declaration of the "nihil obstat". The confirmation that Stojan led a life of heroic virtue allowed for Pope Francis to title him as Venerable on 14 June 2016.[5]