Parishioners Challenge Archbishop Over Control of St. Stan's in St. Louis....May 2004

Polish-American Journal
www.polamjournal.com

Parishioners Challenge Archbishop Over Control of St. Stan's in St. Louis ST. LOUIS----In a stunning show of defiance and solidarity, members of an independent Polish parish fiercely challenged Archbishop Raymond Burke on March 28 over demands that they relinquish control of $9 million in assets and a lay board's leadership.

Hundreds of parishioners filled the pews and aisles of St. Stanislaus Kostka church on the city's north side for a heated exchange with Burke over the future of their church which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The church was established in the late 1800s when Irish and Polish immigrants settled the neighborhood. In 1891, then-Archbishop Peter Kenrick and parish leaders signed a deed conveying church property from the archdiocese to a private parish corporation with a board of lay church members.

The archdiocese, under former St. Louis Archbishop Justin Rigali, announced to the congregation last year that the structure wasn't in accordance with canon, or church, law, that came more than 20 years later.

Burke, only two months into his St. Louis post reiterated that the pope, archbishop and priest--not a lay board-must administer a parish's property and money. In a March 19 letter to the parish, he wrote: "It is simply not right that a parish call itself Catholic and be so recognized by church authority, and at the same time, be under the exclusive direction of a civil corporation..."

He said that if the lay board of directors and parishioners refuse to conform to canon law, he would declare St. Stanislaus no longer a Roman Catholic parish and establish a Polish-speaking parish elsewhere.

In remarks after the 1 ½-hour meeting, which Burke described as "difficult," he said he had no deadline but saw no room for compromise either. He said the parish's assets would be held in an archdiocesan charitable trust. The present lay board would have to resign, and he would appoint new directors.

One by one, speaking alternately in English and Polish, parishioners took the microphone to protest what they perceive as a hostile takeover of a system that has worked at St. Stanislaus for more that a century. They fear their beautiful church and Polish Heritage Center will be closed, its assets sold to beef up archdiocesan coffers.

"We've lived under this binding legal deed for 112 years, "longtime parishioner Stan Rozanski said to rousing applause. "How could we trust you when you are willing to breach that contract?"

Members of the congregation, some Polish Americans, others relatively new arrivals from Poland, held placards in church that called this crisis "Our Polish parish's 9-11" and admonishing Burke to "pray with us, don't prey on us."

Compiled from AP reports | Polish-American Journal…May-2004 www.polamjournal.com Subscription: 800-422-1275