[jecIIny]

This group got some publicity so you have all the liberal wingnuts coming out. But this is temporary. A month from now these people are not going to have people coming from Oregon to their schismatic church. Even so, this is further evidence of the state of the Catholic Church today.

[GeronL]

He needs to find something to call himself, because he isn't a Roman Catholic

[dsc]

Looks to me like Burke made a grab for their millions of dollars, possibly to pay the victims of homo molestations that he or some other bishop could have prevented, and when they told him to pound sand, he pulled their priests and threw them out of the church.

You can put all the lipstick you want on that, but it still looks like a pig to me.

[sirchtruth]

I really wish good Catholics would wake up and realize on their current course they're just inviting trouble into their midst.

This tradition of Pope's, the imperiacal structure of the church, the liberal bent toward God's word is not what God intended things to be like. Of course most Catholics I know would have no idea about these things because they rely on a relationship with their preists to tell them what God thinks instead of THEMSELVES going right to the source.

This is NOT a slam on the parishioner's of Catholism as unholy or Godless, but more a rebuke of the laziness and dishonest accessments one takes to search scripture for answers. When God says, "Seek and you shall find," he's just not referring to Himself, he's also saying to know the Truth, YOU have to seek the Truth. If you're relying on someone else to tell you what God thinks, you're being irresponsible to his charge....Every church needs to pay close attention to the first chapters of Revelation, because they are not only a warning to past churches, but churhes right now, today! WAKE UP!

The veil is rent!!!

[NYer]

this is further evidence of the state of the Catholic Church today.

In what way?

[NYer]

AP - Sat Dec 24,10:51 PM ET The American flag flies between fire trucks in front of St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church in St. Louis Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005, before the start of Mass with the church's new paster, the Rev. Marek Bozek. Archbishop Raymond Burke has said it would be a mortal sin for anyone to participate in a Mass celebrated by Bozek who was excommunicated, the Catholic church's most severe penalty. Burke, who was helpless to stop the Mass, said it would be 'valid' but 'illicit.' (AP Photo/James A. Finley)

AP - Sun Dec 25, 2:02 AM ET The Rev. Marek Bozek follows the altar boys following his first Mass as the leader of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in St. Louis on Saturday, Dec. 24, 2005. At least 1,500 people attended the Christmas Eve Mass, with the overflow crowd watching by closed circuit TV in an adjoining parish center. St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke last week excommunicated Bozek and the church's six-member lay board. (AP Photo/James A. Finley)

* * * * *

As the Rev. Marek Bozek moved into the nave of St. Stanislaus Kostka church, about 2,000 people, jammed into every crevice of the church and the church hall next door, stood up and cheered.

It wasn't until Christmas morning, in a different homily, that Bozek told his new parishioners about a prior episode in his life that helped prepare him for this latest challenge to authority. "God tries us with fire to make our faith stronger," he told them.

Five years ago, Bozek and Catholic church leaders in Poland were at odds about something more personal than the St. Stanislaus dispute. It was an accusation that forced him to flee his homeland, landing in Missouri, and, finally, in the pulpit at St. Stanislaus parish.

With a startling revelation, he signaled to his parishioners on Christmas morning that he had been through controversy with church authority before. And he believed it had made him stronger.

Bozek told his new parishioners the story of his struggle five years ago at a seminary in Poland with an accusation made against him - "a witch hunt" he called it. "Some people accused me of being a promiscuous homosexual," he said. He told the rector of the seminary to provide proof, and said the rector couldn't, but persisted in the accusations.

FULL STORY

[Aquinasfan]

This group got some publicity so you have all the liberal wingnuts coming out.

OK, I feel a little bit better now.

[smpb]

A lot of people are posting opinions without knowing anything about this. There was a time when many Polish Catholics in this country wanted to have a high degree of autonomy over their own parishes. They resented the fact that the hierarchy was largely Irish. Also, they were ultra-nationalist Poles. This led to a schism which was the origin of the "Polish National Catholic Church", which had hundreds of thousands of members. (Look in any almanac under denominations and you'll find it.) Also, there was a tendency in the 19th century for Catholic parishes in parts of the U.S to have more autonomy than was the norm worldwide. This parish in St. Louis is obviously a relic of such history. It probably has nothing to do with "liberal-conservative" issues, but rather whether the parish is subject to the legitimate authority of the bishop. It also has nothing to do with money, as the diocese was not trying to take the parish's money. If one is a Catholic one believes that bishops govern the Church by divine right and institution. If one thinks a parish priest has the right to defy the legitimate orders of his bishop, then one is not an orthodox Catholic. It is as simple as that. This is analogous to a captain refusing to be obedient to his general.

[starfish923]

Isn't obedience one of the priestly vows?
He should be removed by Rome.

[BizzeeMom]

The newest article from the St. Louis Pravda and FR thread. Winding Path to St. Stanislaus (Homosexual Accusations in Poland)

[BizzeeMom]

Just thought I'd post this for newcomers to the story...it's a Google cache of Fr. Bozek's November 6, 2005 homily, at St. Agnes Cathedral parish in Springfield.

In it, Fr. Bozek gives a creative interpretation of the Parable of the Ten Virgins...I post this as background for those who may be unfamiliar with the rebellious priest's history.