Saturday, August 14, 2010

A Renegade Priest, Marek Bozek, Leads a Divided St. Louis Catholic Parish

For more than a century, St. Stanislaus has enjoyed a rare role within the archdiocese. A lay board of directors governs the parish, and church property and financial assets are owned by the congregation. That relationship began to shift in 2003, when the archdiocese proposed that St. Stanislaus’s property and assets — then estimated at $8 million — be brought under an archdiocese-managed trust.

last year Pope Benedict XVI formally laicized Mr. Bozek [a Polish ordained priest], prohibiting him from functioning as a Roman Catholic priest. 

. In 2008 he [Bozek] presented parishioners with what he called his “vision,” which included the right of priests to marry, and that of women and homosexuals to become priests.

draft settlement put forth by the new archbishop of St. Louis, Robert J. Carlson, that would have allowed the congregation to maintain control of the church’s property and financial assets. The settlement provided no guarantee, however, that the parish would remain open. The archbishop would have final say in the appointment of new board members, and, significantly, Mr. Bozek would leave the church.

Click on the following for more details:  A Renegade Priest, Marek Bozek, Leads a Divided St. Louis Parish - NYTimes.com

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