Laureate of the St. Adalbert
Award (Pretium Sancti Adalberti) in memoriam
for the exceptional contribution of Central European co-operation for
2026 is
H. Em. CARDINAL DOMINIK DUKA
A prominent church leader, cardinal, theologian, Dominican, the 36th Archbishop of Prague and Czech Primate.
The award ceremony took place on the evening on Friday October 23, 2026; the award was accepted on his behalf by his longtime secretary and master of ceremonies, Vojtěch Mátl, from the hands of Father Jakub Karel Berka, OPraem, pastor at the Basilica of St. Ludmila in Prague-Vinohrady.
ABOUT THE LAUREATE
Cardinal Dominik Duka, born Jaroslav Václav Duka on April 26, 1943, in Hradec Králové, who passed away on November 4, 2025, in Prague, was one of the most prominent figures in modern Czech ecclesiastical and social history.
His life was profoundly influenced by the fate of his father—a veteran fighter with the 311th Czechoslovak Bomber Squadron in England—who was imprisoned by the communist regime in the 1950s. After graduating from secondary school, Dominik Duka worked as a machine fitter and was only able to begin his theological studies in Litoměřice after completing his military service in 1965. In 1968, he secretly entered the Dominican Order and received his priestly ordination in 1970. Due to his spiritual and formative activities within the order, his state approval for pastoral ministry was revoked in 1975, and from 1981 to 1982 he was imprisoned in Plzeň-Bory. Until the fall of the regime in 1989, he was forced to work as a draftsman at Škoda Plzeň while clandestinely serving as the provincial of the Czech-Moravian Dominican Province.
In addition to his religious and pastoral work, he left a significant mark on Czech culture and theology. He was the initiator and, alongside František X. Halas and his wife Dagmar, the principal translator of the Czech edition of the renowned Jerusalem Bible. In the tradition of Dominican spirituality, he published numerous scholarly and journal articles, lectured at the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Faculty of Theology in Olomouc, and co-created and edited both the Salve theological review and the Czech edition of the international Communio review.
Following the restoration of freedom, he served as the public provincial of the Dominicans and chairman of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors. In 1998, he was appointed Bishop of Hradec Králové, and in 2010 he became Archbishop of Prague. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him cardinal. He remained at the head of the Prague Archdiocese until 2022. Throughout his life, Cardinal Dominik Duka embodied fidelity to Christian principles, moral courage in times of oppression, and a steadfast commitment to defending the spiritual and cultural values of our society. For four years, he served as the patron of the international St. Adalbert Conference, dedicated to fostering enduring and closer cooperation among the countries of the wider Central European region.