The Church of Our Lady Victorious will be closed. Administrators fear that Babiš will abuse him in the campaign
The Church of the Virgin Mary will be closed on Tuesday morning, due to the announced visit of presidential candidate Andrej Babiš. Administrators said they did not want the YES chairman to use the pilgrimage site for an offensive and fear-mongering campaign. “The church is otherwise open to all visitors, regardless of their beliefs, including A. Babiš, for personal prayer, not political campaigning,” added representatives of the Church of Our Lady Victorious and Saint Anthony of Padua, which is nicknamed U Pražského Jezulátek. The former prime minister subsequently canceled the tour of the coronation jewels on Tuesday, the server iDnes.cz reported.
“Given the timing and media presentation of this visit, we clearly consider it a part of the election campaign, which is also conducted in a very offensive and fear-inducing style, and which we definitely cannot identify with. We do not wish that this world-famous place of pilgrimage and an important religious symbol, which is the statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague, be misused for such purposes,” said the administrators on Pragjes website.
Babiš announced the visit as follows: “On Tuesday I will visit the Church of the Virgin Mary. I carry a baby jesus with me, it brings me luck and it works. I will then go see the Castle, President Miloš Zeman has decided to make the crown jewels available,” he outlined his plans for the coming days.
The administrators of the church therefore added that the church is open to all visitors regardless of their beliefs, including candidate Babiš. “For a personal prayer, not a political campaign,” they said in a statement.
He expressed regret
The former prime minister subsequently said that he did not want to abuse the visit for the campaign. He was last there on Jan. 12 and didn’t post anywhere then, although it was shortly before the first, he said. He also noted that he carries the baby jesus he received as a gift with him. “I’m sorry. I will go there another time and no one will know about it,” he said.
Babiš also said that he is not campaigning aggressively, unlike the other candidate, former representative of the Czech army and NATO, Petr Pavel. At the same time, right after the elections, he launched a “harsh” campaign. On billboards, he portrayed his rival Petr Pavel as an enemy who would drag the Czechia into war. He claims to be a diplomat himself. According to experts, this is a similar tactic as used by President Miloš Zeman against Jiří Drahoš.
Server iDNES.cz later he stated that Babiš decided to cancel his visit to the crown jewels, which he wanted to see in the morning in the St. Vitus Church. “I’m not going anywhere, everyone is running an anti-woman campaign,” he said.
Babiš announced that he was participating in Tuesday’s vote of no confidence in the government. The start of Babiš’s election campaign before the second round of elections was described by political scientists and commentators as offensive. At the same time, Babiš himself repeated the campaign that he wants to lead a positive one.
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