Summary
Set against the harrowing backdrop of post-World War II Central Europe, this historical drama traces the extraordinary real-life journey of Anton Časta, a young Slovak seminarian, who defies a totalitarian regime in pursuit of truth, faith, and freedom.
From staging a mock trial of Stalin as a teacher and hiding in sacred caves, to surviving machine gun fire, Communist gulags, torture, and the betrayal by his superiors, the story traverses clandestine border crossings, Vatican intrigue, and psychological warfare.
It is at once a chronicle of Cold War espionage and a deeply human testament to moral courage, resilience, and unwavering trust in God’s providence—even in the face of death, manipulation, and systemic darkness.
Creator of several high profile web projects that have grown to attract millions of visitors annually.
Has co-written the film adaptation of Michael D. O'Brien's novel Father Elijah.
Writer of the Judas Maccabeus film script for producer Pablo José Barroso (For Greater Glory).
Penned The Darling of Court, a dynamic re-telling of Edmund Campion and the English Mission to totalitarian Elizabethan England proposed to Icon Productions.
A Personal Note
The grey city morning had painted frost on the windows as I jumped into the big bed and snuggled next to my father Anton. He wrapped his right arm around me, the one with the bullet scars the size of large thimbles, and pulled me close.
Little did I know then that 20 years earlier he was in bloody agony having flung himself out of a back door into a pitch black garden to escape the thunder of a machine gun and hellish shouts of a vile shooter and his accomplices. I realize now that my life came as a total and unexpected gift. My father should have died just after midnight that summer of 1952.
Anton, with no middle name, was a man who suffered immensely for his Christian faith. He was persecuted not just by the totalitarianism of a communist regime but also the tyranny of those ready to place political goals above the good of the person. Despite all, this slender man with big blue-grey eyes never lost the light of hope. Through all his dark travails and the injuries that would eventually take him to eternity he remained joyful and luminous.
The intense desire to tell my father's story has increased as the storm clouds of totalitarianism return. There is deep global rumble, a polycrisis of fear spread by demoagogues and their legion of apparatchiks trying to intimidate people into a sheepish compliance and surrender of rights.
Karl Marx once said, "Keep people from their history, and they are easily controlled." Today we have become vulnerable having lost much of our historical memory -- the root to our identity, inspiring gratitude to those that have given us life and have taught us the sacrificial love upon which freedom stands. There is a Central European adage that resonates today -- it is easy to lose freedom but very difficult to restore it.
My goal in telling 'The Making of A Vatican Spy' is to write magnanimity back into human DNA by reviving heroic and historical memory and seeding an enduring hope. Heroic virtue is fed by example. We were made for story. Each person is a living story that connects with other stories to find its place in the great epic of humanity, and salvation history, to witness to hope.
Will you support 'The Making of a Vatican Spy' and an effort to re-build authentic freedom?
Novel
A historical novel that helps people choose freedom today.
Film
A film adaptation set in the near future that inspires life change.
Please Donate
I need your help to be able to totally dedicate myself for 12 to 18 months to complete the project. That period involves research, access to archives in Salzburg, and the Vatican Secret Library, the interview of former political prisoners (they are now in their 80s and 90s), and then write the historical novel, secure a major publisher, and complete an adapted screenplay that is then pitched to studios, producers, and directors.
What I can offer my patrons:
- All my financial donors who contribute $50, or more, will receive a credit in the book.
- Donors who contribute $200, or more, will also receive a film credit should we reach production.
- A separate appeal for film investors will come later as I push to produce a motion picture, or an 8 part TV/VOD series.
With a family, putting everything aside to accomplish this mission is not easy as this crowd source project will be my sole source of income. However, I place my trust in the Lord and his prompting to bring this story to light.
Please drop me a short note if you are able to support this project in any way. AMDG!
Endorsements
The cost of true freedom is high but the reward is eternal.
A Glimpse Of The Journey
The first few steps in the journey to freedom.
April 1950
Action K
Night of the Barbarians. Anton was a novice with the SVD missionaries when a mix of State Security operatives, policemen and People's Militia units surrounded the monastery "due to the will of the people".
In total 75 Czech and 62 Slovak monasteries suffered brutality and internment. The nuns were often raped, while priests and monks were beaten and served 180 grams of bread and 1 litre of water a day.
April 1950
September 1950
An Escape Plan
Meeting the Underground's Terms. As a youth of 18 years, Anton was first placed in a work camp and then released. Determined to find a way to Austria to continue his university studies, he connected with the anti-communist underground funded by Radio Free Europe, the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps, and organized mainly by Catholic clergy escapees.
The terms were stark. You had to be on the Communist State Police's "most wanted" list, be willing to do some intelligence gathering, and be able to pay 5000 crowns. To reveal the underground network or to lie about being wanted by the police was punishable by death.
January 1952
A Teacher In Trouble
Mock trail and execution of Stalin. Anton took a grade-school teaching position and during a Friday afternoon class he finally made his move. He held a mock trail of Stalin for crimes against humanity. The students replaced "Uncle Joe's" portraits with farmers feeding pigs and hung in effigy the life sized wall poster of Stalin. Now the sparks began to fly as word spread over the weekend and the police search was on. Anton hid in the sacred cave of St. Andrew Svorad, a disciple of St. Methodius who was in the 10th Century persecuted by the Germans.
Anton took his elder sister's savings, with a note of intended repayment, and gave the underground leaders the money for passage to the West. The real journey had only just begun.
January 1952
People and Places
Just a few of Anton Časta's direct encounters and experiences.
Contact Me
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