Karel Eduard Paar

Fra' Karel Eduard Paar (born January 4, 1934, in Prague, then in Czechoslovakia) is a Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Justice and the Grand Prior Emeritus of Bohemia of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

Family and early life
Paar is the younger son of Alfons, 6th Prince Paar (1903-1979) and of Countess Sophia von Schlitz genannt von Görtz (1906-2002). His elder brother Alfons Wenzel (1932-2016) was 7th Prince Paar. His younger sister Eleonore (1937-2010) married Carlo Cicogna Mozzoni, Conte di Terdobbiate (1922-1979). As the younger son of Prince Paar, he had the title Graf (count) from birth, although this was not recognised by the Czechoslovak government.

As a child Paar lived in the town of Bechyně in Czechoslovakia. In 1947 he moved to Switzerland for health reasons. In 1948 he was joined in Switzerland by his parents who had fled the Communist coup d'état. In 1954 Paar and his family moved to Austria. Their castle in Bechyně was seized by the Communist government by a decision of the people's court in Týn nad Vltavou, March 25, 1949.

In Austria Paar worked in the steel industry and then for a company which manufactured agricultural tools.

Order of Malta
Paar's father was a Knight of Honour and Devotion in the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and had both of his sons join as knights of Honour and Devotion.

From 1962 to 1978 Paar worked in the hospital service of Malteser International.

In 1978 Paar took simple vows as a Knight of Justice. In 1982 he took solemn vows.

In 1981 Paar was elected Grand Prior of Bohemia, in exile in Vienna. He was the first grand prior of Bohemia since the death of Cardinal Karel Kašpar in 1941. He held the position until 1988 when Prince Cyril Toumanoff was elected grand prior. From 1995 to 1996 Paar was Deputy to Grand Prior Prince Toumanoff.

In 1989 Paar was elected a member of the Sovereign Council in Rome.

In March 2004 Paar was elected Grand Prior of Bohemia for a second time, but this time with his residence in Prague. He held this position until 2011.

On February 16, 2019, in observance of Paar's 85th birthday Cardinal Dominik Duka celebrated a thanksgiving mass in Prague in the Church of the Virgin Mary under the Chain.