ST. LOUIS — The Archdiocese of St. Louis and a breakaway Polish-American church have ended a decade-long legal dispute that has led to the community’s official split from the Catholic Church.
“St. Stanislaus has agreed that it will not hold itself out as affiliated in any way with the Archdiocese of St. Louis or the Roman Catholic Church,” the archdiocese and St. Stanislaus Corp. said in a joint Jan. 13 statement.
“By bringing this legal dispute to an end, we pray that this will help to initiate a process of healing,” the statement said.
No financial transactions were part of the resolution, which was announced Feb. 13.
The north St. Louis church of St. Stanislaus Kostka was first founded by Polish immigrants. It was governed under an 1891 agreement in which a lay trustee board controlled parish finances and owned the St. Stanislaus Parish corporation, while the archbishop had the authority to appoint board members and the pastor.
In 2003, the archdiocese tried to persuade the board to transfer property ownership to the archdiocese to bring it into agreement with canon law. Then-Archbishop Raymond Burke played a large role in these efforts when he took over the archdiocese in January 2004.
Some of the parishioners were concerned that the archdiocese intended to close the church or seize its funds. The corporation bylaws were rewritten in 2001 and 2004 to eliminate the archbishop’s authority.
The archdiocese made continued efforts to reconcile with the church. It also filed suit against the parish corporation on the grounds that it revised its bylaws in conflict with the original articles of agreement.
The corporation’s original mission was to unite Polish Roman Catholics in a church congregation, to maintain a Polish Roman Catholic Church and to encourage attendance at Roman Catholic religious services. Some former parishioners joined in the suit.
In March 2012, St. Louis circuit Judge Bryan Hettenbach sided with St. Stanislaus. At the time of the decision, the archdiocese said it planned to appeal.
The parish was declared schismatic in December 2005 after it appointed its own pastor, the Poland-born Father Marek Bozek. Its pastor and the corporation board’s six directors were declared excommunicated, though some board members have since reconciled with the Catholic Church, and four former board members joined the archdiocese’s lawsuit against the corporation.
Bozek had left his previous position without the permission of his bishop and is known for his support of ordaining women to the priesthood. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI dismissed him from the clerical state. The former priest said last year that parish membership had doubled to 550 members since 2005, The Associated Press reported.
In 2012, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis said the archdiocese intended to provide St. Stanislaus Kostka parishioners “a way to return to full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.”
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This strikes me as a very poorly written piece. The original intent was indeed to shut down this Church, and I believe that the heirarchy’s actions were indeed to shut down the Church and sell the property to cover scandalous lawsuits. The Church’s actions pushed it into schism. This is evidenced by the prompt return and reconciliaion by so many involved in the suit originally. The heirarchy should be ashamed of it’s actions that led to suit terrible hurt, confusion and indeed sin.
The Church members should have followed Canon Law and brought the Church under the Bishop of the Diocese.
All they needed to do was include in a written contract that it would not be closed as long as the parishoneers paid all the “bills” of this Church, and that the Diocese would not assess them more than a minimal designated amount for their fair share of Diocese operations.
Bringing in a heretical and schismatic priest is never the answer.
This is such a sad story. Lay governance was a huge fight in the 1800s, for this reason. It is not better to govern your own parish if that means leaving the universal Church, even if the parish was the best-run parish in the world and the diocese the worst-run diocese, with the worst bishop, in the entire world. Bishops come and go, people move in and out of parishes. The Church is eternal.
Think of all those terrible renaissance popes! Think of some of the bad problems in the German church. People at the time felt heartbroken and angry, and thought that it was terrible to be expected to be loyal to a Church run by crooks and hypocrites. But the Catholic Church is still here and still universal, while all those breakaway churches are still breaking apart into smaller and smaller pieces, still fighting over doctrine and style—and in many cases still run by corrupt men and/or hypocrites. You don’t gain by leaving the Church, you always lose.
As a St. Louis native this case has always exerted a horrible fascination on me. How can so many older ethnic Polish life-long Catholics be formally cut off from the body of Christ and not care? How can they be so poorly ‘formed’? ‘Reverend’ Bozek is frighteningly unctuous and gushy and evil.
None if this is a surprise to anyone who has been following St. Stanislaus in the news the last decade.
This pig-headed lack of ability to bend to an obvious case of an agreement that had been working for over a century is yet another reason for the non-Catholic perceptions of the Church. At least the parishioners of St. Stanislaus Kostka did not see their assets converted to collateral for settlement of sexual abuse lawsuits, which I’m sure weighed heavily on their deliberations. It’s so wonderful that Burke’s current job in the Vatican gives him the power to block appeals from his own poor judgement. The whole mess perpetuated itself when the parish appointed Bozek, a decision which could have rested under the historical agreement with the aforementioned Archbishop Burke. I’m not sure that Burke’s outspoken criticism of pro-abortion “Catholic” politicians justified this lack of common sense. He should have left well enough alone!
It was made apparent that the churchs’ founders wanted to have some control over the church’s finances and governing and to protect it from the Archdiocese. It was an understanding:Archdiocese appointed priests and pastors and the laity handled the finances and other non-priestly matters. The Archdiocese wanted to have full control of the church and it was right for the church to say no-and firmly holding its ground. The Archdiocese should not appeal and let the matter be and pray for the church in all of its endeavors.
Re: “St. Stanislaus has agreed that it will not hold itself out as affiliated in any way with the Archdiocese of St. Louis or the Roman Catholic Church,” the archdiocese and St. Stanislaus Corp. said in a joint Jan. 13 statement.”
There is no such thing as a “Roman” Catholic Church.
As a Polish I am sadden that people of that parish, under Polish Saint, decided to give up Eucharist and the Church of Christ for a piece of brick and stone. Decision was always clear - either God or mammon. In the ‘heat’ of discussion they forgot what the ‘fight’ is really about, and they focused on possession. I pray they will repent.
I find it interesting that one person writes about not allowing the church access to their funds so it couldn’t be used
To pay for the sex abuse scandals but no one it mentioning the fact that the priest, who left my diocese without
Exercising the obediance he took a vow to, came forward at his first Christmas morning Mass & told
The congregation he was gay. No one thought anything about that! So your comment about
Paying for scandals is ridiculous. I’m glad the priest is gone & excommunicated. One less
Thing to worry about in our diocese & these people can continue on in their scismatic way. Just
Because one or two people make wrong decisions doesn’t make the Catholic
Church bad. Remember- we’re all sinners!
Ann-
What kind of ‘Catholics’ use their brief and precious moment in this world to whine and quibble with their own church in so destructive a manner over 19th century contracts and governing boards and bricks and mortar? If excommunication means so little to you, GO… PLEASE!
what a ghastly story , seen from a long distance !
i agree with Ann , and hope the Archdiocese now concentrates on caring for its human flock , not property or point-scoring !
we sure need to concentrate on Our Lord , don’t we ?
regards to all of you , from Tasmania.
Oh baloney. It is the parish’s own fault, not the Church. They chose to disobey Christ in their diocese (reference to St. Ignatius of Antioch for respecting/obeying your bishop as you would Christ).
Ann—except that Rome, for reasons that this case has demonstrated are reasonable, wants the parishes of a diocese to be under the authority of the bishop. St. Stanislaus’ resistance to this one thing has brought forth all manner of disobedience and scandal. Pray for our clergy, and the parishioners of St. Stanislaus Kostka!
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