St. Louis, Mo., Aug 9, 2010 / 22:56 pm
Voting 257 to 158, a breakaway Polish Catholic church in Missouri rejected a reconciliation deal offered by Archbishop Robert Carlson as a way for the group to return into communion with the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
St. Stanislaus Kostka – a church in the north of the city which has advocated women priests, married priests and non-Catholics being able to receive the Eucharist – has long been in contention with the archdiocese. In 2005, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed then Archbishop of St. Louis Raymond Burke’s decree excommunicating the board of directors of the parish.
Under his new leadership, Archbishop Robert Carlson offered a compromise that would have allowed the church board to own the parish property and assets as it currently does, but with a second board being set up to lease the church and the rectory.
On Sunday, however, 415 members of St. Stanislaus cast a ballot with the majority voting against the reconciliation effort, reported local St. Louis Fox2Now news.