On August 13, 2026, Fr. Richard Václav Čemus, S.J., former Professor of Spiritual Theology at the Faculty of Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences, passed away at the University Hospital in Motol. Fr. Čemus was born in Prague in 1954 to a family persecuted by the Czechoslovakian communist regime and forced into exile in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1983, he entered the Society of Jesus. From 1985 to 1989, he lived at the International College of the Gesù in Rome and continued his theological studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, specializing in Russian Christian philosophy. In 1991, he defended his doctoral thesis with Fr. Tomáš Špidlík, S.J.

In 1990, he was appointed to the Secretariat of State of the Holy See; from 1991 to 1993, he worked at the nunciature in Moscow. After returning to Rome, he succeeded Cardinal Špidlík as Professor of Eastern Christian Spirituality at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, a position he held for almost thirty years (1993–2022). In 1996, he assumed the position of Rector of the Pontifical Russian College, a position he held until 2001.

Specializing in Slavic spirituality, Father Čemus further developed the work and ideas of Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík. He is the author of numerous studies, particularly in the fields of Eastern spirituality and the spiritual interpretation of contemporary culture.