„Stand Out!“ – Opening evening of the festival

We start the festival by presenting the major points in this year’s programme. We will follow up on past years and show how Meeting Brno inspires beyond the borders of Moravia. The evening will be hosted by the president of the festival, Martina Viktorie Kopecká, who will invite a number of our festival guests for a conversation. Father Pavel Hověz will share the powerful story of the new Church of Blessed Maria Restituta in Brno-Lesná. The Benedictine nun Francesca Šimuniová and the prior of the Discalced Carmelites Pavel Pola will unveil the plans for a “reconciliation pilgrimage” from Prague’s Staroměstské náměstí to the White Mountain to mark the 400th anniversary of the battle. The evening will include a performance by the cimbalom band Pajtáš.

Martina Viktorie Kopecká – a minister of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, psychotherapist and crisis intervener. It was only thanks to a corporate job that she discovered what she did not want to do in her life, and started to seek her own path. Since 2013 she has been a member of the leadership of the World Council of Churches. Pope Francis awarded her a medal and invited her to attend the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican. She’s learning how to ride a bike. She writes her blog, A minister’s diary, and is one of the 33 Great Women from a Small Country; she drinks rum and likes Mickey Mouse.

Programme will be held in Czech only.

Free entry

18:00 Augustinian Abbey, Mendlovo náměstí 1