The deep wound of schism in the archdiocese (Schismatic parish excommunicated)

St. Louis Review Online ^ | December 16, 2005 | Archbishop Raymond L. Burke

[Petrosius]

This is reported with great sadness.

[TotusTuus]

Indeed.

Prayers that the people of St. Stan's find their way back to Christ and His Church.

Prayers also for Archbishop Burke and the good people of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

[solitas]

I find it...interesting...that he never once refers to Scripture but instead enumerates organizational 'laws'.

"Matthew 18:20 - For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them…"
<sarc>...except for months with a K in them pursuant to article 3, section 7, subsection 5, paragraphs 18-F through 19-U inclusive. </sarc>

[Petrosius]

This is much too serious to be used as an opportunity to mock our beliefs. An entire parish has gone into schism and has been excommunicated, cutting themselves off from the Mystical Body of Christ which is the Church. As a non-Catholic, which I am assuming you are, you may not understand its seriousness. This is an internal Catholic matter and I would kindly ask you to keep your snide remarks to yourself. I would not take the death of one of your loved ones to ridicule your beliefs of the afterlife.

[Nihil Obstat]

"Prayers that the people of St. Stan's find their way back to Christ and His Church.

Prayers also for Archbishop Burke and the good people of the Archdiocese of St. Louis."

ditto

[PAR35]

The other side of the story:

---

PRESS RELEASE

St. Stanislaus Kostka Polish Roman Catholic Church

1413 North 20th Street

St. Louis, Mo. 63106

December 3, 2005

* Beginning in 2002, the conflict over property and complete control of our buildings and finances began with the archdiocese demands

* In June 2004 against all religious law, and against all justice, the priests of our parish were removed.

* St. Stanislaus has been without Roman Catholic religious leader ship since then.

* During this time we, the Board of Directors and our parishioners have made numerous attempts to resolve this dispute through liberal proposals. People have come to our aid to assist in resolving this conflict; all were rebuffed by the Archbishop

* All proposals, or recommendations made by any lay individual or team have been rejected by the archbishop.

* Regardless of what was written in the archdiocese controlled media and stated from the St. Louis pulpits their words did not match the legal written documentation offered us.

* In August of this year 2005, we, the Board of Directors requested direction from our parishioners as to the course to take.

* They provided us by an overwhelming majority to seek another Roman Catholic Priest that neither may nor may not report to the Archdiocese.

* Approximately 2 weeks ago in a final attempt to come to an acceptable mutual conclusion, our Board of Director Chairman and the Archbishop met.

* The end result of this final meeting resulted again in a negative response from the archbishop. There would be no acceptance of any of our proposals.

* This conflict is over.

* St. Stanislaus Kostka has obtained a priest who is presently Roman Catholic, unmarried, and bi-lingual to permanently serve our religious needs.

* Commencing on 20 December, Reverend Mark B. Bozek will become our pastor. He is from the Springfield Mo. Diocese.

* His first mass as the Pastor at St. Stanislaus will be on Christmas Eve at 10:00 PM. He will celebrate mass on every Sunday and religious holiday thereafter.

* We welcome this brave, religious and non political individual into our parish family.

* To ST. Louis, the surrounding region, to those across this great land and to those in Poland and in Rome that have attempted to assist, thank you for your continued support and please come join us, we welcome you with open hearts.

http://www.saveststans.org/PRESS_RELEASE_120305.html

Background:

http://www.saveststans.org/page2.html

[lrslattery]

The conflict is over...

They can tell that to the Lord on judgment day, I suppose...Maybe He'll buy it?

[solitas]

I applaud them. Their side of the story appears to evidence a desire in their hearts to do what is right and it appears that they did nothing out-of-hand but made all efforts to deal with the others legally, fairly, and reasonably.

It is possible they may not be able to continue to use the term "roman catholic" (copyrighted?) since the CoR (church of rome) appears to have its skivvies in a twist over their 'self-declaration of independence' (the Sheep have escaped the 'CoRral' to follow their Shepherd?); but who's to say it isn't God leading them in a direction that He wants to them to go? Some people have different needs from others, and God could be moving them toward where He wants them to be. Time will tell and the evidence will be whether He allows this Congregation to prosper or wane.

Should I get anywhere near that location, I know where I'll prefer to spend my Sunday.

[MarMema]

Thought you might like to see this...

[solitas]

ALSO from Webster's (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/sarcasm):

2 a : a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual b : the use or language of sarcasm

"Completeness of presentation counts; deliberate omission may demonstrate deception." (Sandoval)

[solitas]

Another case where that organization (with hired guns - REAL guns) unfortunately 'got the drop' on God's People: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516461/posts.

[Falconspeed]

From the Save St. Stan's web site (Thanks Par35): The parish operates without the financial support of the Archdiocese and has done so for its entire existence.

Getting excommunicated for doing "business as usual" seems harsh.

[solitas]

Also from St. Stan's website, this Burke creature appears to be a real piece of work:

http://www.saveststans.org/burkeWi.html

http://www.saveststans.org/FAQ.html

[Falconspeed]

Closed: 26 Catholic Churches

Whoa. 26. Burke is worse than an anti-Catholic movement. Burke is probably excommunicating others since he is excommunicated himself.

Question: Whether the 26 + St. Stan's have a group to combat Burke?

[dangus]

Don't bother trying to reason with Solitas. He is a hateful creature, who has expressed that he hopes I die. He was applauding a pro-sodomite priest who got excommunicated, cheering him for leaving the pedophile-plagued church. When I (admittedly rudely) pointed out that it the sodomites and their supporters who are the problem, he responded with his death wish for me, insisting anyone who leaves the Catholic Church must be the good guy.

[dangus]

Don't let Solitas fool anyone; he's a bitter anti-Catholic who prefers sodomites to papists. The only reason he has to post on these Catholic threads is to sew misunderstanding and bitterness.

Saint Stanislaus was incorporated with an advisory financial board to be appointed by and directed by the pastor. As church rules permitted independence of such boards, no-one at the diocese realized that such independence would give the advisory board legal control of the church building. Such a cicummstance is illegal under church law, and had been illegal at the time of the founding of the church. After hundreds of Polish families left the church over controversial actions taken by the advisory board, the diocese instructed the board to obey the pastor; the board replied by insisting the pastor had no authority over them.

Essentially what the diocese did is say, "OK, you want to say you are subject to civil law but not church law fine. YOu can be an independent church, but you won't be a Catholic Church." That's Why the church did not send any priests there for the last two years... the board insisted that any priest recognize THEIR authority, as opposed to the bishop's. Any priest who would serve their under such condition would be breaking his vows to the church.

The argument that the diocese has not given them any funds wouldn't hold any water even outside the Church. Those who gave to the parish had a moral obligation to support the Catholic Church with their tithing. This is different than the break-away Anglican churched because those churches are arguing that their actions are done to remain faithful to the Anglican Communion and to Christianity; they argue that Griswold, Robinson and the Ecusa leadership are the ones in schism, not they. Hence, any funding given to such parishes was given under a moral obligation to the Anglican Communion, not to a renegade diocese.

[Falconspeed]

Thank you for the warning. I acknowledge and accept your clear explanation.

the board replied by insisting the pastor had no authority over them.

So, it is an obedience issue, after all!

[Salvation]

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