A Open Letter to the Board 'Chairman' Of St Stanislaus Kostka Parish

I received the following letter this evening. It is an open response to the deplorable action of the board of St Stanislaus Parish in removing certain members from the Parish Registry, presumably it seems, because some parishioners want to be obedient to the Archbishop and the Church, and because they want the parish to remain Catholic and restructured to be in accord with the laws of the Church.

Some have wondered where the Board spokesman, Roger Krasnicki, has been of late...this letter seems to indicate a reason why he has not been heard from recently.

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OPEN LETTER

RESPONSE TO THE LETTER OF MR. BILL BIALCZAK,
ILLEGALLY SELECTED CHAIRMAN OF THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE POLISH
ST. STANISLAUS KOSTKA PARISH IN ST. LOUIS

Mr. Bialczak:

The whole world was mourning the death of our Holy Father. It was the only subject nearly everyone was thinking and talking about. People of all religions of the world were paying tribute to the Holy Father, John Paul II, but you were preoccupied with your petty fight. It was so insensitive that you chose to inform us by letter (postmarked 4/04/05) regarding your decision to remove us from the "Parish registry" during this solemn time - disturbing our mourning and prayers for our beloved Pope.

Let me explain to you, Mr Bialczak, that the Parish, as a part of the Archdiocese, is where the Pastor and faithful parishioners are. The Pastor, not you, represents the leader of the Parish. You can remove us from your registry, please do so, but you have no right to remove us from a parish in which you never had such authority in the first place. You currently have no legal parish position recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, therefore all your actions are illegal.

Your behavior is ridiculous and desperate. You should be thankful to the Archbishop for giving you so many opportunities to make amends and, for not taking you to court because of your illegal takeover of the Parish.

Mr. Bialczak, I would like to remind you that, as members of the board of directors, you were appointed by the Archbishop, and the Archbishop had a right to remove you. The reorganization of the Parish, started by Archbishop Rigali, was not just about the property issue. It was requested by over 180 Polish-speaking parishioners in the year 2000 after your action to remove from our parish Father Jacek Nowak, a very popular and beloved Polish Priest. In 2003 the Archbishop asked you to step down, and you had an obligation, based on the by-laws, to obey this request. You were violating the Parish by-laws by disregarding your obligation to follow the authority of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. By refusing to accept the decision of the Congregation of the Clergy, you put yourself out of the structure of the Roman Catholic Church. In January 2005 you chose to ignore the petition of 140 parishioners who have urged you to respect and obey the Archdiocese's request and the Vatican's decision.

Do you realize how arrogant you were in 2000 when you told us that "this is America, not Poland", implying that we cannot practice our Polish traditions here. How hypocritical you are now, pretending that you want to preserve those traditions.

You caused great pain to our Parish in 2000. Now by creating the present crisis, you are destroying our 125 year old Parish. Our Founding Fathers established this Polish Roman Catholic Parish, which was supposed to be run, according to their by-laws, in conformity with the principles and discipline of the Roman Catholic Church and in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. By your disrespectful disobedience and defiance of the Archbishop, you betrayed the will and wishes of our Founding Fathers.

In your letter, you wrote that we have left the historical Mother Church of St Louis Polonia, but it is you who are abandoning our Polish religious traditions. You are the one who is hijacking our Parish, leaving the Roman Catholic Church, and looking for other options. You are proposing a breakaway from the Archdiocese, and you are considering switching the faith.

We are simply striving to preserve our Faith and our Polish Roman Catholic St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in our Archdiocese for the future generations.

Your most vocal, self-appointed spokesman, Mr. Richard Bach, is a member of a different parish. (Isn't it strange that he is not protesting against the Archbishop in his own Parish, but chose ours instead?) Recently we were informed that your official spokesman, Mr. Roger Krasnicki, is not representing the board of directors or the St. Stanislaus Parish anymore. Is it because his affiliation with the Polish National Church has been revealed? It has become more and more apparent from whom, besides the liberal media, you are receiving support.

Eugene Brzyski
Parishioner of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Church.