Thank you, it makes sense now.The archdiocese alleges that the lay board of directors, in the early 1980s, without permission from Archbishop May, changed the original 1891 bylaws, which stipulated that the lay board was to function solely as an advisory body to the pastor and thus under the archbishop (cf. the Plenary Councils of Baltimore).** In the bylaws as changed, the authority of the pastor was revoked, putting all control of the parish in the hands of the lay board. Therefore, not long after his appointment, Burke mandated that the structure of the parish once again conform to canon law**. In response, the lay board formally appealed to the Holy See. That appeal was denied. However, the archdiocese does not dispute that the deed to the church property itself belongs not to the archdiocese but to the parish corporation; what is disputed is the membership of that corporation, and how they are to be chosen.
From wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt.
I believe they are correct that St. Stanislaus is no longer considered a Catholic parish. The priest however, is a valid priest. He came to St. Stanislaus from another diocese, without the permission of his bishop. He has no faculties and, I believe is currently excommunicated along with the rogue board of the former parish. At the very least, he is a priest without faculties, saying illicit Masses in a building that used to be a Catholic Church.Because the church’s impromptu Mass would be celebrated by Bozek (whom the Roman Catholic church doesn’t consider a priest) in the sanctuary of St. Stanislaus (which the archdiocese doesn’t consider a Catholic parish), it would not be a Mass, at least as defined by the Catholic Church.
Mostly accurate. Fr. Bozek was already suspended by his own diocese (Springfield) for leaving without permission. Also one of the real incindiary things that happened early on was that the board voted to ammend it’s bylaws to no longer allow the Bishop to appoint pastors. It’s hard to get around that one. The Bishop had no “authority” to appoint a pastor under St. Stanislaus’ by-laws but no one else had authority to appoint pastors according to canon law.What originally started this was that Polish brewers wanted a Church of their own, but the Archdiocese refused to fund a Church. They were given permission to raise their own funds and build a Church – similar to how many non-denomination Protestant Churches are begun. That’s why they had a lay board.
So, those workers in 1880 bought the land and built the Church – but the Archdiocese then provided a priest because it was a Catholic Church - only it had been built by the parishioners, not by the Archdiocese.
In 2003 the Archdiocese wanted to take control of the property, which they had not owned because they refused to fund the parish from it’s beginning. When the parish refused to turn over the property, the priest was removed by the Archdiocese. They hired their own Catholic priest, against the Archdiocese’s rules - also simliar to the way Protestant non-demonination Churches also hire their ministers. First the Catholic Church excommunicated the board of the Church since it was always administered that way.
Then, the present priest (who the board hired), Fr. Bozek, was not in union with the Catholic Church. He joined a breakaway faction, after being laisized and excommunicated.
chesterfield.patch.com/articles/st-stanislaus-verdict-is-good-for-this-roaming-catholic
In addition to those things, he was laicized and declared no longer a Catholic priest. This is from a 2009 news article:I believe they are correct that St. Stanislaus is no longer considered a Catholic parish. The priest however, is a valid priest. He came to St. Stanislaus from another diocese, without the permission of his bishop. He has no faculties and, I believe is currently excommunicated along with the rogue board of the former parish.
Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau James V. Johnston in a Monday statement announced Pope Benedict’s dismissal of the former Fr. Bozek, who had already been excommunicated along with St. Stanislaus’ board members.
catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope_laicizes_breakaway_missouri_priest/“His status in the Catholic Church as a cleric is now a thing of the past,” Bishop Johnston explained. “This decision is the result of the actions that he took in late 2005, when in disobedience to my predecessor, Bishop John Leibrecht, he abandoned his assignment and entered the employment of a parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis without permission of the Archbishop. His actions have caused great harm, scandal and sadness within the Church.”