Thursday, May 29, 2008
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SAINT STANISLAUS KOSTKA EXCOMMUNICATED
From the website of the Archdiocese of St. Louis:
Recent Decisions of the Holy See Regarding Saint Stanislaus Kostka Corporation
The following is the text of Archbishop Rayond L. Burke's weekly column in the St. Louis Review, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. This column will be published in the May 30 edition of the newspaper.
Introduction
On December 15th of 2005, I was obliged to declare the excommunication of the members of the Board of Directors of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Corporation because of their persistence in schism. The members of the Board had committed the most grievous delict of schism by hiring a suspended priest, that is, a priest not in good standing in the Church, for the purpose of attempting to celebrate the sacraments and sacramentals at Saint Stanislaus Kostka Church, all outside of the communion of the Catholic Church. The priest in question, the Reverend Marek B. Bozek, a priest of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, had left his priestly assignment against the expressed will of his bishop, Bishop John Leibrecht, in order to be hired by the Board of Directors of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Corporation.
Bishop Leibrecht warned Reverend Bozek, several times, about the grave consequences of his actions, and, when Reverend Bozek refused to heed his warnings and abandoned his priestly assignment, was obliged to suspend him from all acts of the power of Holy Orders and of governance. When I received news of Reverend Bozek's coming to the Archdiocese of St. Louis, I urged him to be obedient to his bishop and not to participate in the schismatic activity of the Board of Directors of Saint Stanislaus Kostka Corporation. Reverend Bozek also refused to follow my direction and, likewise, incurred the penalty of excommunication because of persistence in schism.
On March 23, 2006, the Board of Directors and Reverend Bozek presented a recourse against my declaration of their excommunication before the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office of the Holy Father which treats all matters of heresy and schism. The recourse alleged that I had unjustly declared the excommunication of the members of the Board of Directors and of Reverend Bozek.
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