St. Stanislaus Kostka should not give in to St. Louis Archdiocese
Those of you in St. Louis are well aware that St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, founded in 1880, is being pressured to turn over control of church property and other assets (including an endowment) to the St. Louis Archdiocese. For over a century the lay board of St. Stanislaus has managed their own financial affairs – a unique arrangement I’m told. Discussion now centers on a irrevocable trust for church property & assets but I don’t trust Archbishop Burke. The members of St. Stanislaus should be commended for maintaining their church, building an endowment and remaining in a neighborhood which has seen a devastating amount of change over the last 50 years. We have this board, not the St. Louis Archdiocese, to thank for their continued presence. I hope they tell the Archbishop where he can go (don’t worry, he’ll get their eventually).
Over the last 50+ years the St. Louis Archdiocese has abandoned the City of St. Louis – closing church after church. It is almost as if they were deliberately pushing their parishioners to the suburbs. Take a tour of North St. Louis sometime – former Catholic Churches abound. Most are vacant. Most are some of the most stunningly beautiful churches I’ve ever seen – even in various states of disrepair.
Not happy with helping destroy North St. Louis, the Archdiocese now has its sights set on South St. Louis. A number of local churches built & maintained by generations of St. Louis families are going to close. The final list is still being debated but it seems to me the parishioners and the neighborhoods that will be impacted have little say in the matter. Meanwhile, demand for services from social service agencies such as Catholic Charities will increase as a result of their abandonment of the City of St. Louis. Perhaps that is the plan? Abandon the city so the social agencies can gain greater control? The residents & parishioners in the city are simply pawns in their game…
While my own personal faith has nothing to do with organized religion, I see the value to many in St. Louis for their local parish. In the suburbs you’re going to drive to church anyway – just based on their sprawl. But, in the City of St. Louis we need to see a return to the local church. The task of trying to attract new residents becomes harder without the local church in the neighborhood.
The St. Louis Archdiocese is making major mistakes that will have a very long lasting affect on the rebirth of St. Louis.
– Steve
I think that the map on the Archdiocesan website ( http://www.archstl.org/parishes/stlcity.htm )is incredibly telling about how they view the city. The divide between the “reds” and the “blues” is much more than geographical. It perpetuates the racial divide just as sure as if were blue and gray.
Agreed. The link Dustin posted shows St Simon of Cyrene, which is closing next year. At that point there will be one Catholic church in the City north of I-70. The trend continues into North County, where other parishes are closing.
Steve,
You are so right, the Archdioceses is doing whatever it can to destroy the rebirth of St. Louis. I hope the impact the church closing had on the Northside will not be the same on the South but at the same time I have my doubts.
We are simply sheep for the shepherds to abuse and steal from any way they like. In the view of the “Church” it is only the priest that matters the laity have no official voice only the wallets. The story of the closing of St. Agatha’s Parish is a prime example. Take a drive by this church or rather get out of you car and enter into it sanctuary to experience is beauty.
St, Agatha a magnificent church will be closed on January 5. The church sits on the edge of Soulard and nested between the brewery and HWY 55. My family have been parishioners of St. Agatha Parish for 6 generations. My Great Great Grandparents settled in Benton Park following their emigration to St. Louis in 1902 from southern Missouri. My family has resided and maintained active presence in the Parish and in the neighborhood since this time. I now am raising my 4 small children in the neighborhood.
St. Agathas has always been our familyÂ’s home parish. Even though many extended family members have fled to the suburbia utopia they have always maintained their involvement in the activities and support of the parish.
The parish financially has never been much better off. It was endowed decades ago by a pastor. In recent times it began holding the Indult Latin Mass on Sundays. The parish draws people to attend Mass from not only the suburban area but as far away as St. Genevieve and Hannibal, MO. The building is impeccably maintained and preserved. Its 2 Masses presented in English are attended by people from the neighborhood or those who have made it a personal parish and drive from the county area. The Latin Mass regularly sees attendance of 700 people in a church that seats 600.
The Sisters of the Most Precious Blood reside and operate the area food pantry from the onsite convent have become a mainstay for the poor and homeless. Their mission has served the St. Agatha community for over 100 years. There is a rich story of the Sisters service and dedication to the local church. They also operate and Adult daycare at the parish.
So why close a church that is successfully servicing the needs of the community? The Archdiocese see the people who attend the Latin Mass as having deep pockets. They are going to move the Indult Rite Mass to St. Francis DeSales that is in need of rehabbing. Closure of St. Agatha will make this that much easier for them. Once the parish is closed the property will be sold to Anheuser Busch. Similar to the fate of other properties purchased by the brewery it will be torn down and turned into a parking lot. The money from the purchase of the property will go to the Archdiocese who will spend it as they feel fit. Likley to build an ugly church in St. Charles.
Steve,
I respectfully disagree with your position. Board of Directors of the the St. Stanislaus Kostka is an example of failed leadership. Their actions are affront to any church community.
I would like to share with you excerpts from an open letter which was written by St. Stanislaus parisgioners who support th Archbishop Burke. This letter clarifies a lot of issues which have not been addressed by media. I hope you and visitors of this forum have enough patience to read it.
Tom
___________________________________________
Parishioners of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish
at Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist Church
15 Plaza Square Saint Louis, Missouri 63103-2318
Contact: (314) 781 4486 e-mail:stkostkaparish@sbcglobal.net
October 3, 2004
Open Letter to Parishioners and Supporters of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish
Over the last several months the Polish community of the St. Louis metropolitan area has been largely divided over a disagreement between the Archdiocese of St. Louis and members of the Board of Directors of the parish corporation regarding the future of the parish. In order to understand what is currently occurring in the St. Stanislaus Parish community we need to take a closer look not only at events which occurred earlier this year, but also at the circumstances surrounding changes of corporate by-laws by the Board of Directors of the St. Stanislaus corporation. This conflict has many underlying issues which have developed over many years, and unfortunately they have not been explored enough by the media and therefore are not known to the public. To further explain our position, it seems useful to clarify some terms in regard to St. Stanislaus Parish community vs. Polish Roman Catholic St. Stanislaus Parish Corporation.
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish is a faith-based community of people who subscribe to the discipline and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The parish was established by Archbishop Kenrick in 1880. As a parish, St. Stanislaus Kostka is required to function in accordance with the norms of Roman Catholic Church law.
The “Polish Roman Catholic St. Stanislaus Parish” is a Missouri not-for-profit corporation established in 1891 to enable the St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish community to more easily function within civil law. As Article 1 of the original by-laws states, “The corporate power of the corporation shall under the laws of the State of Missouri be exercised in conformity with the principles and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be established from time to time, for the government of said church, by the Roman Catholic Archbishop in the Diocese of St. Louis, or by his authority.”
Unfortunately, for some time the values and goals of both entities have been very different. As a result, the needs of many members of our parish community have not been properly represented and attended. Over the past several years, the St. Stanislaus Parish corporation has been managed in such a way that it has resembled more of a small family business, rather than a Roman Catholic parish community which functions according to the norms of Roman Catholic Church law.
The original by-laws were adopted by the first Board of Directors of the St. Stanislaus Corporation in 1891. The first President and Treasurer of the Board was the pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Fr. Urban Stanowski. In 1891, Archbishop Kenrick, as trustee for the Congregation of St. Stanislaus, signed a deed conveying a property from the archdiocese to the civil corporation – “Polish Roman Catholic St. Stanislaus Parish”. While the deed conveyed the property to the civil corporation, it did not transfer financial control of the parish. When the property was conveyed, the parish corporation was structured so that all directors, including the pastor, were appointed by the Archbishop who could also remove the directors in case of disagreement. The Archbishop also had final decision-making authority in any disagreement among the directors.
Article 5 of the original by-laws states that “The Treasurer of said corporation shall collect all moneys due or coming to said corporation and pay out of funds in his hands, only such claims and demands as he may be directed to pay by resolution of said Board of Directors. Whenever the money in his hands belonging to said corporation shall exceed sum of Five Thousand dollars, he shall deposit the same, in the name of said corporation, in a depository to be designated by said Board: and monies thus deposited can be withdrawn only by check signed by such Treasurer and countersigned by acting President of said corporation. He shall keep in a book for that purpose, a just, true and full account of all receipts and disbursements of said corporation, and said books at all times be open to the inspection of any member of said Board of Directors and to the Archbishop of Diocese of St. Louis or his representative. He shall on the first Monday after the Feast of Pentecost, in each year (or oftener if required by resolution of said Board) make out, in duplicate a full, true and detailed account of all said receipts and disbursements, together with a full and true statement of all assets and liabilities of said corporation, and shall transmit, without delay, one of said duplicates to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of said Diocese, and shall submit the other to said Board of Directors at its next regular meeting. He shall prepare and cause to be published in such manner as the President of said corporation may direct, a synopsis of said account and statement for the benefit of the members of said corporation.[..]
Article 8 states that “If any dispute or controversy arise between the members of said Board of Directors which they cannot settle, they shall submit same, without delay, to the decision of said Archbishop of said Diocese of St. Louis, and if he be absent to the Vicar-General, and in his absence to the Administrator of said diocese of St. Louis, and the decision of said Archbishop, Vicar-General or Administrator, shall be final and binding on all parties. Either party refusing to abide by said decision, after being duly notified in writing thereof, shall forthwith cease to be a director of said corporation and his place shall be declared vacant by other members of said Board of Directors”.
Article 12 states, in part, that “Those by-laws cannot be changed or modified, nor [Â…] shall any amendment be made at any time which shall in anywise be in conflict with any law of the State of Missouri, or with any rule , regulation or requirement of the said Diocese of St. Louis in force at the time of such proposed change”.
The St. Stanislaus Corporation functioned in its role in accordance with the original charter until the lay members of the Board of Directors revised the original by-laws in 1978, then adopted new by-laws in 2001, and most recently in 2004. Through these illegal changes of the original by-laws, the lay Board of Directors took away the authority of the Archbishop over the parish corporation. Through these revisions, the Board of Directors secured its own autonomy by removing the power of the Archbishop to remove them from office. By revising the by-laws in this manner, the members of the Board violated the original purpose of the St. Stanislaus Corporation and its relationship to Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish and thus the Roman Catholic Church.
After assuming a position of authority over the parish corporation, the Board of Directors focused their attention primarily on the financial management of the parish funds and so disregarded many relationships with active parish members. Despite several requests by many parishioners over the course of many years, and although required by the original by-laws, the Board refused to provide a complete detailed written report of all the financial accounts of the parish. As far as we know, the Corporation has never gone through an independent audit of all financial accounts it holds.
In the summer of 2003, Archbishop Rigali initiated the process of bringing the parish into conformity with the more than 200 other parishes of the archdiocese. In response to the ArchbishopÂ’s request, the Board of Directors initiated an intense, large scale, hostile campaign crafted to discredit Archbishop Burke, the successor to Archbishop Rigali, who has worked to bring to completion the work begun by Archbishop Rigali. The vindictive language and tone used in Board of Directors communications to parishioners and on their internet site is despicable and disgraceful and should have no place in any parish community. We find such tactics deeply troubling and unacceptable, particularly if they are used in the name of all parishioners.
The current conflict between the Archdiocese and the Board of Directors clearly demonstrates that the Board is defending its own position of power, which was attained through illegal modifications of the original corporate by-laws and which for the first time is being seriously challenged. In a desperate attempt to retain final authority over the parish assets, the Board wrote on its internet web site that it is currently considering the parish assets “to be deeded to another Polish organization not related to the Archdiocese and possibly not related to the Roman Catholic Church, or to join another (non Roman) Catholic Church.” By appealing to the passions and prejudices of many unaware parishioners, members of the Board created an illusion of a potential danger of closing the parish.
The St. Stanislaus corporation currently owns multiple bank accounts with considerable assets, which have been generated through the hard work and generous donations of money, time and talents of countless individuals who believed that their work benefited the St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish community and thus the Roman Catholic Church. Many supporters providing financial contributions to the current campaign do not realize that they actually support actions which remain in direct contradiction with principles of Roman Catholic morality. The “Save St. Stans” campaign, filled with hostility towards the Roman Catholic Church, exploits the vulnerability of many faithful parishioners and supporters of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish who have been led to believe that donating money to the campaign, will help to save the parish from closing. Unfortunately, these donations are used to fuel aggression and hostility towards the Roman Catholic Church.
The changes the Archdiocese is requiring in the structure of the St. Stanislaus Corporation will allow St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish to be faithful to its original mission. These changes will also ensure that parish assets will be managed in accordance with both the spirit and the law of the Roman Catholic Church. In this way the required changes will benefit the entire parish community.
—
[Tom – thank you for posting this response. I read it in full. However, you have lost me when you claim the actions of the board were “illegal.” If this were true, the law could simply step in and correct the situation. I think what the letter meant to say was illegal with respect to church law? If so, that is an entirely different matter than illegal with respect to a Missouri not-for-profit corporation.
I’m not even going to get into church law and all that because frankly I don’t care. What I care about is keeping as many of these churches open and active. I personally believe that if St. Stanislaus was not set up in its unique manner it would have been closed several decades ago. Once Pruitt-Igo became the disaster it did I’m certain the Archdicese would have closed the parish the building and history would be lost forever.
If the board had to change the original bylaws to protect the church from being overtaken by archbishop appointed members that would agree to close the church then so be it.
I still hope St. Stanislaus Kostka stands firm against the Archbishop. I hope you and others that disagree are able to find a place of worship where you are also happy. Best of luck.
– Steve]
Steve,
You don’t know what you are talking about when you say, “If this were true (regarding the changes being illegal) the law could simply step in..”
Nowhere in the United States do laws do anything by themselves. Laws do not simply step in. Law enforcement officials take action and persons file lawsuits. Then courts make judgements and issue orders.
The archdiocese is correct and the 150 faithful parishioners of St Stan’s who agree with the archbishop are correct. The board has illegally changed the by-laws without the consent of the archdiocese. The archdiocese is trying to work this out outside of a courthouse. They may eventually decide to take the disagreement there, but the fact that they have not yet chosen to do so does not prove your point.
Joe
Sorry if I am posting late on this,I found this site while doing some personal research to keep up on the situation. however I must say the one flaw in the st. stanislaus campaign reasoning is this. They are a Catholic Church. A roman catholic church, that has had a Priest in the past supplied by the Archdiocese. Also, being a Roman catholic church it kind of implies allegance to the Bishop of Rome. Or in other words the Pope. The pope elects bishops to be his voice in other lands. This is why in the consecration of a bishop, either by the Pope or a nuncio, we see the laying on of hands. This is an ancient gesture that symbolizes a transfer of authority. Thus, any member who claims to be of the Roman catholic church, by their allegience to Rome, has allegiance to their Bishop. He might not always be right, and when he isnt, that is when the faithful need to appeal to rome. However, if that appeal is not made, or goes unheard, or un responded, then the authority of the bishop must be respected. One can argue all they want about the “structure” of this historic church, but the fact remains, it was Archdiocese established, and thus a true roman catholic church, and thus further falls under the See of the successor of that Bishop, and all priciples and laws of that church.
It saddens me to see old churches close. Many of us have roots in those old parishes, either personally, or via being 2nd or 3rd generation from them. However, Nuns , priests, bishops dealing with the faithful isnt what makes the church strong, its the People in the church. With all the discussion of lay powers in the mass and church, people have forgotten that we the laity have more power then any bishop or priest. We can spread the word of God, quickly and decisively, and as Catholics are obliged to do so. Its been that way since 33a.d. , that has never changed. The only way to save parishes, is to evangelize in that area. The faithful moved to the county long before any Archbishop started reorganizing things. It is up to us, to keep evangelizing those areas. That is what it means to be catholic. That is what makes the church work.
As of today, the board of directors of the corporation formerly known as St. Stanislaus parish, and their hired priest on suspesion from the Springfield diocese, have excommunicated themselves from the Roman Catholic Church.
This is a sad but predictable conclusion that the directors have chosen for themselves. It is particularly galling to those of us who remain faithful to the Holy Mother Church in what have been surely her darkest days. The directors and their supporters are truly misled and for that they are deserving of prayers. But, their conduct has been contumacious and it deserves the most serious punishment warranted. That they have excommunicated themselves in this way is the just reward they deserve.
^One does not excommunicate one’s self — the Archbishop did that so your attempt at spin is lost on me. Yes, there was an element of choice involved on the board’s part given the ultimatum they were handed, however, I would have done exactly the same. With the blatant disregard the archdiocese has shown the historic parishes of this city why in the world would they trust it or its leader? In my opinion, this parish still exists because of the laudible actions of its board over the years despite what many others would have considered insumountable odds. Bravo, my Polish friends!
Bishop Burke and some other high ranked church officials are evidently attempting to turn public attention away from the sex abuse scandals. The whole story about St. Stanislaus Parish must have been staged by church luminaries in order to cover-up their own grave sins, and perhaps to find another cash cow which will pay for the expenses of shielding pedophiles. Bishop Burke resembles more of a merciless secretary of the soviet communist party, indiscriminately trying to preserve the powers of ignorant doctrine regime. He seems pursuing a paranoiac crusade against what is the true Canonical Law – the Will of the Faithful. Ancient Christians did not have Canonical Law. Their will and faith was their Law and they were ready to scarify their lives for it. Bishop Burke seems unwilling to scarify pedophiles priests, for the benefit of the whole church. The interest of the institutional church has priority over the will of the Faithful. Follow this link to find the proof:
http://www.archstl.org/commoffice/2005/releases/12-07-05-statement.pdf
No wonder there is so much evil in this world, when so much of this gangrene resides inside the institution of the church itself. I hope and pray that St. StanislausÂ’ parishioners can prove to the whole world and to the Universal Church the rightness of their struggle.
Bishop Burke, I am praying to God to forgive the sins of despicable priests and your own. Mercy on you.
Christian Man
I disagree with all of you. I am so sorry to hear about your plight. What you say may or may not be true as written in the history.
However, you are still in schism. Numerous scriptures talk about obedience…Rom 13 and 1 Sam 15:22 and others. Archbishop Burke may or may not be correct in his assessment but he is still the boss. No where to my knowledge does it say the boss is always right but the boss is still the boss.
The Church is in disobedience. The Pastor is also disobedient. He left his post in the springfield-Cape Diocese without authorization from his boss. Man has been struggling with obedience since the beginning. This was even Adam and Eve’s first sin. Until you come into obedience, I cannot in good conscience support you in your predictament. If archbishop Burke is wrong , it is not you job to disobey and correct him. It is his boss’ job or God’s job. We are commanded to be obedient to All lawful authority. If Jesus can do it as an example when He stood before Pilate, then why shouldn ‘t we.
It sounds like to me the Church in St louis need s cleaning out and more from the pew than the heirarchy…at least in this instance. Read also 2 Tim 4:3-5. It appears the Catholics here need to learn obedience.
Larry
“^One does not excommunicate one’s self — the Archbishop did that so your attempt at spin is lost on me”
Better pull out your Catechism. And the Code of Canon Law. One does excommunicate oneself by one’s actions. No one can excommunicate you except yourself. If you knowingly and purposes remove yourself from communion with the Roman Catholic Church, then you have excommunicated yourself. Get it? “ex” = former and “communicated” = in communion with – formerly in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
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