The Prague Archdiocese is ready to sell the Jindřišská Tower for 100 million crowns to the city. Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner announced this to journalists on Wednesday, stating that the sale has been approved by the Vatican. The purchase will say the Vatican has approved the deal. Prague has previously expressed interest in acquiring this medieval landmark.
The church intends to allocate the proceeds from the sale to finance religious education. In addition to the Jindřišská Tower, the archdiocese is also selling the Clara Futura Hotel in Dolní Břežany.
This sale is part of the church’s efforts to streamline its operations as it prepares for the time when it will no longer receive government subsidies. Initially, the archdiocese offered the tower for sale at 75 million crowns. There was significant interest from potential buyers, and the potential buyers had a substantial interest in Jan Balík, the general vicar of thee Archdiocese, who said the city’s price was one of the highest.
The Clara Futura Hotel in Dolní Břežany was created through the renovation of a castle that the Prague Archdiocese had owned for almost 300 years the Prague Archdiocese had owned; the church received the property back in poor condition and invested 250 million crowns into its reconstruction between 2015 and 2018. However, the hotel has been operating at a loss. The current tenant, the investment fund Investika, is purchasing the hotel from the archdiocese, as announced during today’s press conference.
“The archdiocese has been collaborating with the investment fund on various projects, and it has remained the only reliable tenant even during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sale of the complex fulfills the provisions of the lease agreement, and the property will continue to serve as a boutique hotel of a similar nature. Both parties have also agreed to continue the operation of the local chapel,” stated the archdiocese.
In 2020, the Prague Archdiocese established the St. Ludmila Foundation. Through the foundation’s revenues, it finances two aforementioned projects: the reconstruction of a gymnasium and the construction of a speech therapy school. The new school will supplement the existing Don Bosco speech therapy school, which lacks sary capacity—construction of the unknown is expected to begin in spring 2024. The Prague Archdiocese operates 14 schools and educational institutions, and in addition, there are 17 other church-run educational establishments in the Prague Archdiocese.
The Catholic Church is planning its investments in preparation for when it will no longer receive government subsidies for its activities starting in 2030. The Prague Archdiocese indicates that in 2030, it will need half a billion crowns to cover its main activities, particularly its spiritual endeavors. Therefore, it must earn at least this amount, primarily through its economic activities, supplemented by donations from the faithful and potential grants from the government or other sources.