Prague, Czech Republic - Prague bishop of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church Karel Bican was temporarily put off duty and relieved of all his posts, pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings with him, head of the church office Jiri Vanicek told CTK today.
The decision of the central council of the church wants to settle the homosexual affair of the church dignitary as it harms the church before the public, church patriarch Tomas Butta said.
Bican, 55, who is married, demanded sex from a man, named Lukas Borecky, whom he helped upon return from prison.
The scandal erupted last autumn when the weekly Tyden published some extracts of the conversation in which Bican told Borecky that he was in love with him. Bican at first said that the recording was false. He only confessed after the church wanted to order a voice analysis of the recording.
Earlier this year, the Czechoslovak Hussite Church's central council called on Bican to step down over the scandal, but he refused to do so.
Some members of the church considered Bican's keeping his post unthinkable as he lost both confidence and personal integrity, while others refused to believe the scandal.
With over 100,000 members, the Protestant Hussite church, established after Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, is the third most populous church in the Czech Republic.