The solemn Holy Mass was celebrated by Prague Archbishop Ján Graubner, with the participation of almost 250 bishops, priests and ministers from Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, Germany and Iceland. “The Cardinal was a distinctive personality. The son of a soldier who liked people in uniform, a Dominican with good formation, a man with a choleric nature, a fighter for truth and freedom was clearly recognizable in today’s effeminate culture,” Graubner said during the ceremony. Apostolic Nuncio Jude Thaddeus Okolo read a message from Pope Leo XIV in Czech. He described the Cardinal as a good and generous servant who was faithful to the church even in times of lack of freedom and devoted to his mission. Czech former President Václav Klaus also said in his speech that he considered Duka to be an extraordinary personality. Servare et Manere also noted the Cardinal’s exceptional deeds and in 2022 awarded him the Tree of Peace Memorial Plaque. On the altar was the Palladium of the Czech Lands, a unique Marian icon of the Madonna and Child from the 14th century, which is considered a protective symbol of the Czech Republic. His being carried out from Stará Boleslav was exceptional on this occasion, it had not been the case at the funerals of cardinals in the past. The motif of Palladium is also on the rosary, which the cardinal donated to Servare et Manere for an exhibition in the Kysuce Museum.

At the request of the deceased cardinal, the Choir of Jews from Verdi’s opera Nabucco rang through the cathedral while his coffin was being carried. The largest church bell, Zikmund from 1549, the heaviest bell in Bohemia, also rang. Its 27 strikes were heard, the number of years of His Eminence’s episcopal service.

As an expression of affection and support for the deceased to the Armenian and Israeli peoples, a prayer by an Armenian priest and the Hebrew singing of the 16th Psalm were heard over the grave. Cardinal Duka rests in the Archbishop’s tomb.