A year after the consecration of the church in Gutech, the faithful are still getting used to the new sanctuary

Guty/Třinec (Frýdecko-Místecko) – A year after the consecration of the replica of the burned Church of the Body of Christ in Třinec-Guty in Frýdek-Místek, the believers are still getting used to the new sanctuary and are looking for their place within it. Their feelings were compared by Pastor Kazimierz Płachta in an interview with ČTK to the feelings of people who move into a new apartment. "They need time to get used to it," said the clergyman, who, besides the parish in Guty, also takes care of Ropice and Střítež.

The 16th-century church burned down on the night of August 2, 2017. The police determined it was an act of arson. The regional court in Ostrava sentenced three young men from the Ostrava region and Frýdek-Místek to 3.5 years, eight, and nine years in prison for starting the fire. The harshest sentence was given to the young man who devised the attack. The lightest sentence was imposed on the boy who set fire to the building, who was not of legal age at the time of the act. The driver who brought them to the site received an eight-year sentence.

The new building, which cost 33 million crowns, is a faithful copy of the original church. "A year has passed. Slowly it is returning. As a clergyman, I see that people cannot find their corner in the chapel. The pain of what happened is still evident in the people. It’s like moving into a new house. It takes time to get accustomed," explained the pastor.

Services in the replica of the original church are organized twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays. However, there will also be one on Monday, June 6, the anniversary of the consecration of the new church. More and more visitors are coming to view the church. There are more than before the fire. They do not come just for Mass. Dozens of people visit on other days as well, from all over the Czech Republic and from abroad. "We had pilgrims from Austria, Germany, and Poland. Something unpleasant brings positive fruits of another kind," added Płachta.

The construction of the church itself was completed a year ago, but the work is not entirely finished, especially around the chapel. "We have not managed to arrange the surroundings. The new fence is also not finished. For now, we only have a temporary fence to prevent wildlife from accessing the cemetery," he said. According to him, the work is currently being delayed by the unfinished land transfer between the parish and Lesy ČR. According to the pastor, there are still missing brass plaques with information about the original church and the new building.

"Otherwise, we can evaluate the past year positively," he added, stating that work is being done on the interior furnishings. "We have a new Stations of the Cross. It has 15 stations. The icons were hand-painted by monks from an Orthodox monastery in Romania," he said. The decoration is being gradually supplemented, as the original was completely destroyed by the fire. "It is about the dignity of the place. In the past, the church had treasures, works of art that were collected for five centuries. Now we are at the beginning. We have to do it again," he said.

Płachta was previously in contact with one of the convicted young men who wrote to him from prison. He was the only one of the convicts to express regret. The pastor corresponded with him, supporting his effort to study. Their contact was interrupted when the young man died last year. The priest even held a mass for him in the Guty church. "He was the only one who apologized to me. He regretted it," he said. He added that the mother of another convicted person contacted him once. She offered help. However, she did not reach out again later.

The church was rebuilt as a faithful replica of the original building from the first half of the 16th century, using traditional craftsmanship techniques. The construction used 450 cubic meters of fir wood, 150 cubic meters of spruce wood for wooden shingles, and over ten cubic meters of oak wood.

The new Guty church is now indistinguishable from the one that burned down on the outside. However, the interior differs from the original. During the fire, the furnishings were completely destroyed, consisting largely of movable cultural monuments. The new interior design was created by architect Marek Štěpán from Brno. The design is partially based on the original solution, such as the painting of the choir railing and the modifications of the walls in the presbytery. The actual furnishings of the church, especially the altar and tabernacle, are addressed completely anew and modernly.

The new Guty chapel also has something extra that the previous building did not have. It is equipped with an electric fire protection system connected to the fire department dispatch. The new technical equipment of the church also includes a fire water tank with a capacity of 24 cubic meters. Compared to the original building, the church is also equipped with full-fledged organs from the Polish company Zych. The organ has one manual and seven registers. The new equipment also includes four bells.