[PAR35]

The other side of the story:

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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.

[NYer]

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

I've seen this before. A local parish temporarily lost its assigned priest. The Parish Council took over the Church. When a new priest was later permanently assigned, a huge conflict ensued over whose parish it was. Those "in charge", left.

We - the sin of pride at work.

[AlaninSA]

Thanks for posting the other side of the story. There's much more to this than the Archbishop said in his note.

This guy has a history of closing parishes - he's a crusader who reminds me of Arne Carlson's desire to close small public schools (regardless of their financial situation). He also apparently accepted the presence of a transgendered "nun" in his old diocese.

There are always two sides. After reading the archbishop's letter, I thought the parishoners were wrong and deserved what they got -- but now I see that the archbishop is being dishonest in his letter. It's not about submission to him or the diocese -- it's about closing a parish...plain and simple.

[BlackElk]

PAR 35: As the press release of these excommunicated schismatics states: This conflict is over. Their willful rebellion against legitimate Church authority is manifest despite repeated warnings by Archbishop Burke and despite his best generous efforts to bring them to heel. He is in charge of the parishes and religious life of those parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The rebellious excommunicati are not. This is the Roman Catholic Church and NOT some anarchic congregatonal church. May God bless Archbishop Burke for administering exemplary ecclesiastical justice to these willfully disobedient ecclesiastical thieves and schismatics.

If any among them are willing to put aside their sins of pride, disobedience, defiance and scandal and come groveling back in abject humiliation, certainly Archbishop Burke will consider entertaining individual pleadings. The rebellious priest, Mark Bozek, should be defrocked, never to be restored, as an example to others in other schisms of recent note.

Solitas: When Catholics need your opinion as to how OUR Catholic Church should be governed, we will be sure to ask.

[jecIIny]

The problem here is that the defense by the parish simply does not hold water. They claim that the bishop was acting illegally and in an unreasonable manner. Yet when they appealed to the Holy See (as is their right) they lost. The competent authorities in Rome ruled decisively in favor of the bishop. Rome has spoken. The matter is settled. Further defiance is in fact schism.

[TotusTuus]

Several points to your post concerning the "other side of the story" from the St. Stanislaus website, realizing that others have already replied to you on it.

Notice how none of their bullet point arguments reference the legitimate canons of the Church whereas Archbishop Burke's letter does.

Priests lawfully exercise their Priestly ministry under the authority, and in union with, their Bishop which also means in union with the Bishop of Rome. These two figures are the legitimate successor to the Apostles and it is through them that Christ exercises His continuing ministry in the Church. (This is why prayers are said for them at every Eucharistic Liturgy the Church performs).

The Reverend Mark B. Bozek has broken his vows to Christ through the Church and as a result may not function as a Priest presently. The board of St. Stan's hired him anyway. This alone - for whatever reason - is an act of Schism. Where is their Apostolic succession? To what Bishop - through whom Christ acts as their Head - are they subject to?

non serviam appears to be their answer, and we know it's primordial source of origination.

Concerning background info, this previous post from 'lrslattery' might be helpful.