Jan Hus and Vatican II

The article develops the thesis of Professor Stefan Swiezawski that Jan Hus, the Czech Reformer sentenced as a heretic by the Council of Constance and in consequence burnt at the stake, can be considered as a precursor of the Second Vatican Council. After a short historical introduction there is an analysis of those ideas of Hus that were reflected in the Vatican II documents Dei verbum , Lumen gentium and Dignitatis humanae . The arguments are completed by a description of the present Catholic approach to Hus and by indicating a possible re-interpretation of his person thanks to the great metanoia launched in the Catholic Church by Vatican II.