The St Stanislaus Kostka Parish was founded in 1880 in the Archdiocese of St. Louis by the Most Reverend Peter R. Kenrick, the Ordinary of the Archdiocese.
In 1891, Archbishop Kenrick conveyed the property to the civil corporation of the parish, but he did not transfer control of the parish. When the property was conveyed, the parish corporation was structured so that all directors, including the pastor, were appointed by the Archbishop. The Archbishop also had final decision-making authority for any disagreement among the directors.
Article 1 of the original by-laws states, "The corporate power of the corporation shall under the laws of the State of Missouri be exercised in conformity with the principles and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as may be established from time to time, for the government of said church, by the Roman Catholic Archbishop in the Diocese of St. Louis, or by his authority."
However, by this time, the Pope had declared that parishes should not be under the control of civil corporations with lay boards of directors. This declaration of the Holy Father was not uniformly applied until the adoption of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. By 1951, all parishes of the Archdiocese of St. Louis which had this structure were brought into conformity with Church law, except for St. Stanislaus.
In 1943, then-Archbishop John Glennon requested changes be made to the parish structure to conform to Church law.
Then-Archbishop Joseph Ritter in 1954 and again in the mid-1960s requested the necessary steps be taken to change the structure to conform with Church law.
In the fall of 2003 then-Archbishop Justin Rigali met with the board of directors and began the current process of bringing the parish into conformity with the more than 200 other parishes of the archdiocese.
Changes to the civil corporation's bylaws were made by the lay board in 1981 and 2004. These changes eliminated all relationship of the archbishop of St. Louis to the corporation and were made without the approval of the archbishop.
Article 12 of the original bylaws states, in part, that "Those by-laws cannot be changed or modified, nor [...] shall any amendment be made at any time which shall in anywise be in conflict with any law of the State of Missouri, or with any rule , regulation or requirement of the said Diocese of St. Louis in force at the time of such proposed change".
Through these illegal changes of the original by-laws, the lay Board of Directors took away the authority of the Archbishop over the parish corporation. Through these revisions, the Board of Directors secured its own autonomy by removing the power of the Archbishop to remove them from office. By revising the by-laws in this manner, the members of the Board violated the original purpose of the St. Stanislaus Corporation and its relationship to Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish and thus the Roman Catholic Church.
The current conflict between the Archdiocese and the Board of Directors clearly demonstrates that the Board is defending its own position of power, which was attained through illegal modifications of the original corporate by-laws and which for the first time is being seriously challenged.
The changes the Archdiocese is requiring in the structure of the St. Stanislaus Corporation will allow St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish to be faithful to its original mission. These changes will also ensure that parish assets will be managed in accordance with both the spirit and the law of the Roman Catholic Church. In this way the required changes will benefit the entire parish community.
On August 11, 2004, Archbishop Burke stated, "With respect to the assets of St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Church law safeguards and protects all such funds, buildings and grounds. I state yet again that neither I, nor my successors as Archbishop of St. Louis, will, or, for that matter, can, access or redirect the funds on deposit in the Archdiocesan Trust of any of our parishes.
"I again ask that your parish priests be accorded the same respect and cooperation which are given to the parish priests in each of the 212 other parishes of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The legitimate exercise of the pastoral office cannot be impeded, if a parish is truly to be Catholic in name and in fact."
--------
St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish has been given the Archbishop's assurance that as long as the parishioners continue to worship at St. Stanislaus Church and continue to support the parish , it will not be closed. This is a unique commitment that no other parish in the archdiocese has been given.
In a two-page ruling signed by Cardinal Castillon of the Congregation for the Clergy on November 11, 2004, the Vatican ruled that " ... the current board of directors of the civil corporation (St. Stanislaus) ... have amended the by-laws of the civil corporation in such a way as to deny the authority of the parochus (pastor) and the canonically provided oversight of the Archdiocese of St. Louis."
The Congregation also stated that, "...the current board of directors and members of the civil corporation have amended the corporate documents of the civil corporation so that the parish is not in conformity with the canon law of the Roman Catholic Church, namely cann. 209, 519, 532, 536, 537, 1257, and 1276."
--------
A parishioner, Jarek Czernikiewicz, said the bylaws, beginning with the original ones adopted in 1891 and ending with those adopted in 2001, "expressly stipulate an unconditional obligation of the board of directors to exercise the powers of the corporation" in accordance with the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
"The directors of the St. Stanislaus civil corporation should accept the Vatican’s decision with dignity, obedience and respect for the Roman Catholic Church and faithful parishioners."
--------
The information above was excerpted from various sources and compiled here for ease of understanding (I hope). If anything stated above is in error, please notify me so that any necessary corrections can be made.
No comments:
Post a Comment