Czech cardinal; Jesuit priest and distinguished theologian.
 
SP - Signed Photo:  4"x6" color litho print image; signed and dated on the reverse.
 
In 1951, Spidlik was called to Rome by Vatican Radio. The programs broadcast to the countries behind the Iron Curtain were a precious aid to a freedom in danger of being slowly but inexorably suffocated.  From this work with Vatican Radio sprang a special mission that would always accompany him and which made him known in lands despite their communist deomination.  Among others, Spidlik met with Alexander Dubcek, the former first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechslovakia and Vaclav Havel, who became the first president of that country and the Czech Republic after the fall of the communist regime.
 
Spidlik was highly regarded as an expert in the spirituality of Eastern Christianity. He was a prolific author and was equally acknowledged in the academic and international fields. He was received at the Kremlin, led the spiritual exercises of Pope John Paul II and his curia, and was decorated with the medal of the Masaryk Order, one of the highest honors of the Czech state.