St Stanislaus Board Enlists Aid of Retired Polish Archbishop

Part of this article appears to be a rehash of the story that ran March 7...In this, we read:

At the request of some St. Stanislaus Kostka parishioners, Wesoly recently, and secretly, engaged in the debate between St. Stanislaus and St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke. Burke is at odds with the parish over the control of church finances, which for more than a century have been managed by a lay board. The archdiocese contends St. Stanislaus' structure as a nonprofit group run by a lay board is contrary to church law, and for the last year has renewed its efforts to force the board to conform to a traditional parish structure. Wesoly sent a letter to the Washington-based U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, via Archbishop Wilton Gregory, asking someone at the conference to try to mediate the dispute.

I find it strange that the report states that this retired archbishop chose to communicate with the USCCB rather than to Archbishop Burke. One must also wonder what details this man has been given - one can certainly presume that he was not given all of the facts of the case.

"I am sorry for what is happening to the Polish church in St. Louis," he said. "I'm trying to get people in Washington to help."

That's one of his problems....He doesn't know where to go for help. Maybe this is part of the 'information' he received from the rebellious and disobedient ones?

Wesoly is in favor of a compromise in the dispute. He thinks both the lay board of directors and Burke need to give something to gain something.

He suggests, in effect, that Archbishop Burke ignore Canon Law and look the other way while the board acts in direct defiance of the Church. How 'pastoral' can that be? Bottom line - being truly 'pastoral' requires that corrective action be taken.

"The board says one thing and the archbishop says another," he said. "They need to sit down and begin a serious dialogue."

The board members and the spokesman need to repent of their defiance and their calumny against the Archbishop - perhaps after that, they board might review the generous proposals of the Archdiocese.

Wesoly said he believes the atmosphere of widespread church closings in the United States has contributed to the fear St. Stanislaus parishioners have that Burke simply wants to close their church.

He acknowledged that Burke had promised not to close St. Stanislaus, but said the current atmosphere of distrust that parishioners have for U.S. bishops because of the clergy sexual-abuse crisis has contributed to the St. Stanislaus situation. He mentioned a message John Paul gave to a group of U.S. bishops visiting Rome in 2004.

Abp. Wesoly has been misinformed, and the fact that he is bringing into the conversation only confirms that he is using the same tactics used by Richard Bach over the past months. The issue is a canonical one - all other extraneous issues, while they might be worthy of discussion, have no bearing in this case.

"He told the bishops they had to have the confidence of the people," Wesoly said.

He also said Burke's decision to issue the penalty of interdict against the six members of the St. Stanislaus board, "while canonically correct and right" was "spiritually and emotionally not the right thing to do."

It's easy for a retired archbishop from Poland to second-guess another, especially when it seems that he does see the entire picture. Looking at the situation through the distorted lens of the St. Stanislaus board does not permit one to make sound or prudential judgments.

The rhetoric has not ceased either. As recently as April 4, on radio station 97.1FM, Richard Bach was interviewed again in an attempt to garner sympathy for their rebellion. There was even made a request that he and Jamie Allman - have a debate on the issue on the air - as if this were an issue which could be settled by 'duking it out' in the realm of public opinion.

It is unfortunate that one seeks to find sympathy and intercessors for ones own acts of willful disobedience and insubordination. In fact, it is quite childish and immature. One wonders how these people can fair in the real world when they behave in such a juvenile and self-indulgent manner.