Rome has spoken:
From the Congregation for the Clergy, 11 November, 2004Dear Mr. Krasnicki,
With regard your recourse against the Most Reverend Raymond L. Burke, the Archbishop of Saint Louis, this Congregation encloses its canonical response.
After reviewing the documentation relating to the foundation and organization of the Polish Roman Catholic St. Stanislaus Parish, as well as its more than 100 year history, this Congregation is greatly troubled by the current situation. There can be no denying that when Archbishop Peter Kenrick founded the Polish Roman Catholic St. Stanislaus Parish, he created a Roman Catholic parish to serve the needs of the Polish ethnic population in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The civil form of incorporation under the "Benevolent, Religious and Education Association" laws of the State of Missouri was only one of the vehicles by which Archbishop Kenrick accomplished this purpose.
The actions of the Board of Directors in attempting to take control of the Parish represents a clear affront to the authority of the Church and the intentions of the Parish founder. Through careful and premeditated revisions of the By-laws of the civil corporation, you have attempted to make the role of the pastor impotent, attempted to wrest control from the local Ordinary, and attempted to transform St. Stanislaus into an entity which has no resemblance to a parish as envisioned by either the tradition or current law of the Roman Catholic Church.
This Congregation strongly urges you and the parishioners of St. Stanislaus Parish to work in cooperation with your local Ordinary to restore St. Stanislaus Parish to the status envisioned by its founder, that of a parish of the Roman Catholic Church with a pastor who "exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan Bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community he may carry out the offices of teaching, sanctifying and ruling with the cooperation of other priests or deacons and with the assistance of lay members of Christ's faithful, in accordance with the law." (C.I.C. Can. 519).
With assurances of prayers and best wishes, I remain,
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Csaba Ternyac, Sec.
Thank you for including the actual document in your post. The Congregation for the Clergy did not want to go against the bishop in such a "small" matter as $9 mil. material property.
The words: "This Congregation strongly urges you and the parishioners of St. Stanislaus Parish to work in cooperation with your local Ordinary to restore St. Stanislaus Parish to the status envisioned by its founder, that of a parish of the Roman Catholic Church with a pastor who exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan Bishop" are directed as much to the parish council as they are to the bishop.
Schisms are so awful! Brrrr! Meanwhile, it became OK to vote "pro-choice".