Posted on 03/01/2005 7:23:32 AM PST by PolishSTL
I am here this morning to inform you of the events of last night. A courier service delivered the official written interdict from the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its representative, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke. We ask that everyone respect the wishes of the board members and not contact them during this sensitive time. I will first read a statement, that some of you already have received, from the St. Stanislaus Six through their advisor. Afterwards, I will continue with a statement from the parishioners.
Archbishop Raymond L. Burke has rejected the reasonable and generous offers of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish and has instead chosen to impose the contemptible penalty of Interdict against the Board of Directors of the Parish Corporation. Archbishop Burke does this not over an issue of faith, but rather over his demand for money and property. The Directors, unanimously and with clear consciences, refuse to recognize any validity to such an immoral, unjust and inequitable sanction.
Archbishop Burke’s harsh act exceeds the ecclesiastical penalties imposed by him against the many accused and convicted priest pedophiles who violated the laws of God and man, and instead hid and denied those crimes helping bring the American Catholic Church to the brink of financial and moral ruin.
The actions of Archbishop Burke, who has steadfastly refused to meet with those he punishes, exceed all bounds of reason and clearly indicate the priority that he places on his own desires over that of the common good of the flock he has been appointed to shepherd. It is about raw power and greed, and not about the teachings of Jesus Christ.
While the Archdiocese will no doubt attempt to continue to disparage the Directors and Parishioners of St. Stanislaus as disobedient and rebellious against his decrees and his selective interpretation and use of “Church law,” it is in fact Archbishop Burke who repudiates his vows to serve the people, in favor of satisfying his own demands for power.
We did not abandon our faith. Archbishop Burke abandoned St. Stanislaus. The Archbishop abandoned St. Stanislaus by removing the priests from the faithful and forbidding the Sacraments at St. Stanislaus. The Archbishop continues to refuse to even meet with the Board that he now tries to condemn. Instead of talking and being questioned by the people, he hires a highly paid PR spokesman to spin his demands to the press.
Instead of treating what is sacred as sacred, Archbishop Burke uses the Sacraments as a bargaining chip. He refuses the Sacraments he holds in one hand unless the Directors accede to his demands to put St. Stanislaus’ money and property in Archbishop Burke’s other hand.
In the 1800s, Archbishop Kenrick set up St. Stanislaus as a separate corporation. In the many decades when St. Stanislaus was in financial peril, the Archdiocese would not assist ----- no loans were ever given. St. Stanislaus had to stand on its own. It did so only through the sacrifice, hard work and Faith. Now that the Parish has assets he wants, Archbishop Burke decrees that sacrifice, hard work and Faith by generations of faithful was and is against his interpretation of Church law. St. Stanislaus’ Parishioners do not believe that they are offending God by faithfully operating the church as it has been operated over the last centuries.
Abp. Burke leaves the Directors, in accord with the will of the Parishioners, to take whatever actions are necessary to provide for their own spiritual well being.
The Board of Directors, while always open to discuss the reinstatement of St. Stanislaus Directors and the Parish into the Archdiocese, will not accept the Archbishop’s demands to extort property and autonomous control from the Parish in exchange for the Sacraments of our Holy Catholic Church.
The St. Stanislaus Kostka parishioners are greatly indebted to these six brave individuals. They have done and continue to do what we, the parishioners have requested. The overwhelming vote of 299 to 5 sent a clear message to the Archbishop that we will not relent. These men will continue to represent us and we will not accept substitutes that would be intended to replace them or their positions. In our ranks, we have strong Poles that have pledged allegiance to the Polish Pontiff, withstood the communist tyranny with solidarnoscz, endured displacement in Siberia, fought against as well as survived not only Nazi oppression but the death camps themselves. They now stand strong to defend the Catholic faith against the hurtful and cruel actions of the Archbishop.
This Sunday, February the 13th, 2005 we will have our 9:30am prayer service, as we have been doing since Archbishop Burke abandoned the flock. Following that, at 11:00am, we will be having an assembly in the Polish Heritage Center, directly behind our beautiful, historic church. This is open to any and all interested parties, not just parishioners. Our board and spokespeople will be available for questions and answers after a presentation of our information regarding this attempted land and money grab by the diocese. Again, I cannot stress enough that we request no one attempt to contact the six board members until Sunday, at the meeting.
We thank everyone for their continued support. I would like to end this meeting with the following quote from Desmond Tutu. “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”
Burke may be a heavy-handed fellow, but he has the power of interdict to use as he pleases, and it's no one's business to take on the apostles' successors over a property issue.
Then again, no sanction by any bishop can keep anyone out of heaven. I pray you all do the right thing.
Please also review my postings at http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/1351909/posts?
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