Deadline to comply with Church Law officially ends for St. Louis parish

St. Louis, Mo., Feb 9, 2005 / 22:00 pm

In a press release Tuesday morning, the Archdiocese of St. Louis announced that its patience with St. Stanislaus Kostka parish on the north side of the city had “officially evaporated.”

A dispute between St. Stanislaus Kostka Polish Parish and the Archdiocese, which erupted nearly a year ago, surrounds the refusal of parish board members to bring the civil structure of the parish into compliance with Church law.

Under its current structure, St. Stanislaus’ archdiocesan appointed pastor is subject to the authority of the parish board. Burke says that this structure is unacceptable, according to Canon Law; but opponents claim that it is just a way for the Archdiocese to gain control of parish assets. 

After almost a year, patience on both sides is running thin.

Archbishop Burke announced an original deadline of February 4^th for the parish board to comply with the Archdiocese, but extended it last Friday in order to give the board “one more chance.”

As of Tuesday, the second deadline is also up and St. Stanislaus’ board members now face an official refusal of Sacraments within the Catholic Church.

Called an interdict, the denial of sacraments has long been used as a tool by the Church to show individuals their errors and call them to repentance.

The Archdiocese announced Tuesday that while the interdict will indeed be placed on the board members, it hasn’t decided when it will take effect. Under Canon Law, the interdict can be removed at any time if the parties involved choose to repent.

In November, the Vatican sided with the Archdiocese and denied an appeal which was hand-delivered by a parish board member.

Archbishop Burke removed St. Stanislaus’ pastors months ago and relocated official Polish Masses to a nearby parish.