Board members from breakaway St. Louis parish reconcile with Church, join lawsuit

St. Louis, Mo., Jul 25, 2008 / 00:30 am

Three members of the board from the breakaway St. Stanislaus Kostka parish in St. Louis have reconciled with the Catholic Church. The trio has also joined former parishioners in a lawsuit asking the civil corporation which owns the parish to adhere to its 1891 bylaws that require it to encourage attendance at Roman Catholic religious services.
 
Bernice Krauze, Stanley Rozanski, and Robert Zabielski, all members of the Board of Directors of Saint Stanislaus Parish Corporation, met on June 10 with then-Archbishop of St. Louis Raymond F. Burke to be reconciled with the Church. Their meeting followed the June 2 reconciliation of former board member Edward Florek.

The three board members reportedly personally asked Archbishop Burke for help in reconciling the parish with the Church.

The lawsuit filed by former parishioners, contributors, and board members of St. Stanislaus Kostka or its corporation asks the Saint Stanislaus Parish Corporation to adhere to its 1891 bylaws which, according to the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ website, deem the corporation’s purposes to include: to unite Polish Roman Catholics in a church congregation; to maintain a Polish Roman Catholic Church; and to encourage attendance at Roman Catholic religious services.

The archdiocese claims that the bylaws have been amended by the board of directors in a manner “incompatible with how a Roman Catholic parish is administrated.”

If the lawsuit is successful, the archdiocese says, it will appoint Rev. Michael Marchlewski, S.J. as church administrator to replace Father Marek Bozek, an excommunicated priest from Poland who was appointed by the church corporation board.