Brno/Rome: Msgr. Josef Laštovica was born on November 1, 1925 in Jimramov. He attended grammar schools in Velehrad and in Brno. In 1949 he had to emigrate for fear of being arrested. A year later he started studying theology in Rome. He was ordained priest on July 3, 1955.
In 1955–1956 he worked as a prefect of the Pontifical College Nepomucenum and later as a secretary of the Pastoral Institute of the Lateran University. In 1963–1968 he worked as a secretary general of the Lateran University and in 1968–1992 he worked at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He also worked in Vatican diplomatic service.
After the fall of the Communist regime n Czechoslovakia in 1989 he started lecturing on bioethics in his homeland. He was appointed postulator of the beatification process of Mother Vojtěcha Hasmandová. In December 2007 he was awarded the Medal of Ss. Peter and Paul by Bishop Vojtěch Cikrle of Brno.
He was injured in January 2012 and died on May 17 at the Pius XI Hospital in Rome. The Requiem mass will start on Friday, May 25, at 3.00 p.m. at the cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul in Brno. Funeral mass will be held on Saturday, May 26, at 10.30 a.m. at the church of the Birth of Our Lady in Jimramov. After the service, his body will be buried at the local cemetery.
Author: Jiří Gračka
