The article is currently at the St. Louis Review here.
May 14, 2004
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish: Parish, diocese, universal Church
by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke
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Introduction
In recent weeks, there has been much conversation and publicity regarding my meetings with the board of directors of the civil corporation of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, with the priests assigned to the parish, with the parish Pastoral Council and with the parishioners. A number of the faithful of the archdiocese have written to me, expressing their concern about the situation as they perceive it. A common perception is that the archdiocese is demanding a change in the civil incorporation of the parish, in order to be in a position to suppress or close the parish and, then, to take the parish’s funds to use for other purposes. As you can imagine, such a perception is a source of scandal for the faithful.
In order that you have a correct perception of the situation, I offer a reflection on the situation itself, in the context of the Church’s understanding of the relationship of a parish to the diocese or archdiocese, and to the universal Church. The reflection both seeks to heal any scandal in the matter and provides us all a good occasion to reflect on the gift of our life in the Church at the parish, diocesan and universal levels.
Closing of Parishes and Parish Funds
To be clear, from the start, it is no part of my thinking or of the thinking of anyone who advises me that St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish should be closed. On the contrary, I have stated repeatedly, both in writing and orally, that I take great pride in St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish as a personal parish for Polish-speaking Catholics and Catholics of Polish heritage in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. I have thanked publicly those who have sacrificed so much to keep St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish active and strong. And I have confirmed publicly my intention to help the parish in every way possible, pledging that it will enjoy my fullest support. For example, even though the archdiocese anticipates having fewer priests to assign in the coming years, I have promised to St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish the service of both a priest of the archdiocese and a native Polish priest.
It is sometimes said to me that the archdiocese has never done anything for St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, that the parishioners have built and maintained the parish on their own completely, without any encouragement or help from the archdiocese. My reading of the history of the archdiocese tells me otherwise. There is not sufficient space here to review the whole history of the relationship of the archdiocese to St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, but I can offer an example of the recent solicitude of the archdiocese for the good of the parish. Cardinal Justin Rigali not only assigned Father Philip Bene, a priest of the archdiocese, to the parish, but also, working with the Bishop of Drohiczyn in Poland, he obtained the services of a native Polish priest for the parish. The archdiocese provided for the tuition, room and board of the Polish priest during his study of the English language at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit. Father Bene, who has some Polish heritage, also has been studying the Polish language. What is more, in order that having the services of two priests not be too burdensome for the parish, Father Bene’s compensation comes principally from the Archdiocesan Curia, in which he serves as a judge of the Matrimonial Tribunal.
Regarding parish funds, no bishop may confiscate the funds of any parish. Such action is directly forbidden by the Code of Canon Law. The ownership of goods acquired by a parish belongs to the parish and is governed by Church discipline (cf. Can. 1255-1257).
The bishop has the responsibility to supervise carefully the administration of the funds and other temporal goods of the parish, so that they serve the mission of the Church in the parish, but he may not take the temporal goods from the Parish (cf. Can. 1276). If a parish is closed — and I repeat that I have no idea of closing St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish — the funds of the parish are directed to the parishes in which the parishioners of the closed parish are then registered.
Also, the Code of Canon Law requires that the designation of gifts, given to the Church, be fully respected (cf. Can. 1284, §2,3º). There has been concern that the archdiocese will not respect funds that have been designated for the cultural center established at the parish. To be clear, the archdiocese is obligated to respect the designation of funds for special works or projects of the parish.
Civil Incorporation of Parishes
The present form of civil incorporation of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish places complete authority for the administration of the parish in the hands of the board of directors, which operates according to its own bylaws. The bylaws previously permitted the parish priest or pastor to be present at meetings of the board, but he had no vote. Recently, the board of directors has proposed a change in the bylaws, which was subsequently approved at a meeting of some parish members, which would grant to the pastor a vote on the board of directors. In either case, the pastor remains subject to the authority of the board of directors, even though his appointment is made by the archbishop of St. Louis. In other words, the archbishop of St. Louis is asked to send a pastor to St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in order that he serve under the direction of the board of directors of the parish.
Church law does not permit a parish to be civilly incorporated in this manner. The form of civil corporation must respect the nature of the Church, in which Christ has placed the Holy Father, Successor of St. Peter, and the College of Bishops, Successors to the Apostles, as true shepherds of the Father’s flock.
Priests are the co-workers of the bishop and carry out the mission of Christ the Good Shepherd in the parishes and other institutions to which the bishop sends them. As a true shepherd, the bishop, with the priests, has responsibility for both the pastoral care of the faithful and the administration of the temporal goods which support the pastoral care.
Temporal goods are buildings and grounds which are owned by the Church and are used to carry out the Church’s mission. They also include monies which are used to provide financial support of those who dedicate themselves to carrying out some part of the Church’s mission, and to maintain and develop the buildings and grounds. Because temporal goods are essential to the Church’s mission, the Code of Canon Law includes a special section which contains the discipline to be followed in their administration (cf. Can. 1254-1310).
The administration of temporal goods requires that the Church observe the local civil law and adopt the appropriate civil structures to make possible the fulfillment of her mission (cf. Can. 1284, §2, 2º-3º). The Church respects the civil law and provides for the civil incorporation of parishes and dioceses and other Church institutions and associations in order that the civil law be observed and the fitting protections of the civil law be assured. The parishes of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, with the exception of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, are presently structured in the form of unincorporated associations. At present, the archdiocese is studying a proposed revision of the form of civil law structure of parishes to nonprofit corporations that it may serve even better and more securely the work of the Church. Since my arrival as Archbishop, I have been studying the proposal and hope to finalize it, with the help of archdiocesan legal counsel and canonical counsel, within the coming weeks.
Nature of the Church
As is clear from the above, the civil structure of the incorporation of parishes and the archdiocese must respect the nature of the Church. If not, the right ordering of the Church is disturbed, and there is the strong danger of misunderstanding our life in the Church and failing to respect our distinct responsibilities in the Church. Such misunderstanding has led, in the past, to sad divisions in the Church.
The Church is God the Father’s gift to us. God the Father sent God the Son into the world, that He call the Church into being through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Throughout His public ministry, Christ was forming the Church, His disciples, and instructing them regarding the life of the Church. By His suffering, dying, rising from the dead, Ascension and sending of the Holy Spirit, Christ brought to completion the work of establishing the Church as His living Body, in which the members have communion with God, in Christ, and become co-workers with God, again in Christ, for the salvation of the world.
The Church is not an organization which we have formed and joined. No, it is God’s gift to us through our Baptism and Confirmation. The highest expression of God’s gift of the Church to us is the celebration of the holy Eucharist, through which He feeds us with the Body and Blood of Christ, His Son, nourishing the life of the Holy Spirit within us, drawing us closer to Himself and strengthening us to do His work in the world.
In calling the Church into being, Christ, at the very beginning of His public ministry, set apart certain of the disciples to carry out a distinctive service, the service of Shepherd and Head which belongs to Him alone but which He carries out through them. By the Sacrament of Holy Orders, Christ gives to bishops and priests the grace to act in His person as Shepherd and Head of God’s flock in every time and place. To be precise, by the grace of Holy Orders, the whole being of the bishop and priest is given over to Christ, so that He can act in them to teach us, to sanctify us and to guide and direct us.
In guiding and directing the life of the Church in every community, the bishop and priests enjoy the assistance of both pastoral councils and finance councils, composed of lay members of the faithful and consecrated persons. The diocesan or parish pastoral council helps the bishop or pastor to know as fully as possible the pastoral needs of the faithful and to use appropriate means to meet those needs. The diocesan or parish finance council assists the bishop or pastor in administering the Church’s temporal goods — buildings, grounds and money — so that these temporal goods serve as best as possible the teaching of the faith, the worship of God and the care of all who are in need.
Why now?
The question is frequently raised about my reason for addressing the civil corporate structure of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish at the present time, especially so soon after beginning my service in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. First of all, my predecessor, Cardinal Rigali, had been working with the board of directors and the parishioners at St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish to correct its civil structure, in accord with Church discipline. He met with the board of directors of the present civil corporation on Sept. 30, 2003, to explain the steps necessary to bring the corporate structure of the parish into compliance with Church law.
Subsequent to Cardinal Rigali’s meeting with the board of directors, Father Bene, parochial administrator of the parish, wrote a lengthy letter to all of the parishioners on Nov. 14, 2003, explaining in detail the requirements of Church law and responding to questions about how making the necessary changes will effect parish life.
Before I came to the archdiocese, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, then archdiocesan administrator, provided me with the complete documentation in the matter. I studied it carefully and agreed completely with Cardinal Rigali’s actions to rectify the situation. It is important to note, however, that Cardinal John Glennon, who served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 1903 to 1946, made an initial effort to address the irregular corporate structure which exists at St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish. Cardinal Joseph Ritter did likewise during the time, from 1946 to 1967, when he served as Archbishop of St. Louis. Both of these initiatives are facts of history.
After I began my service in the archdiocese on Jan. 26, I met, on March 2, with the board of directors of the civil corporation, the members of the parish pastoral council, Father Bene and Father Adam Hurbanczuk, the priest of the Diocese of Drohiczyn in Poland, who assists Father Bene, to bring to a fruitful conclusion the work which Cardinal Rigali had begun. Then on March 19, I wrote to all of the parishioners, both in English and in Polish, to explain my decision in the matter. A copy of my letter is available to anyone who wishes it. If you wish a copy of the letter, please contact my office. Could I have let the situation continue as it is? Of course, I could have, but to have done so would have indicated that I did not believe that there was anything wrong. It would have been a lie, on my part. As a faithful Archbishop, I would be obliged to correct the matter eventually. Then, the question would logically be asked: Archbishop, if the corporate structure of the parish was all right with you in 2004, why is it not all right now? In any case, as Archbishop, in obedience to the discipline of the Church, I wish St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish to be constituted, also from the point of view of its civil structure, as a parish of the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
What next?
Once the final form has been given to the proposed revision of the civil law structure of the parishes of the archdiocese, St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish will be asked to accept the same civil structure as every other parish in the Archdiocese. If the board of directors refuses to revise the present structure of civil incorporation of the parish, I will be left with no other choice than to declare that the parish is no longer part of the archdiocese.
Because of my strong commitment to provide a personal parish for Polish-speaking Catholics and Catholics of Polish heritage, I commit myself to having a personal parish for Polish Catholics. It is my hope that St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish will remain the personal parish for Polish Catholics, but I cannot presume upon the decision of the board of directors and, therefore, will be prepared to provide immediately for the needs of the faithful who wish to belong to a parish for Polish Catholics.
Conclusion
I hope that the above will address the questions which the faithful of the archdiocese have raised in response to reports which they have received about the relationship of the archdiocese, and my relationship as Archbishop, with St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish and the faithful who are members of the parish. I hope also that my reflection on the situation has been the occasion for all of us to deepen our appreciation of God’s most wonderful gift to us, the gift of our life in Christ in the Church.
Please pray that the relationship of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish with the Archdiocese of St. Louis may be reconciled in order that the fullness of the pastoral life of the Church may be available to the parishioners now and for the future. I ask the intercession of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Poland; St. Stanislaus Kostka; and Sts. Faustina Kowalska and Maximilian Kolbe for this intention.
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