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Board Dissolved in Rebel St. Louis Parish Catholic World News June 6, 2008 http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=58912 St. Louis, Jun. 6, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Just three weeks after the Vatican upheld the decision by St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke to excommunicate them, the directors of a schismatic parish have voted to dissolve their board. Meanwhile one of the eight lay board members disciplined by Archbishop Burke has met with the archbishop, professed his loyalty, and been restored to full communion with the Church. The dissolution of the board of St. Stanislaus Kostka parish came on June 5, after a contentious meeting during which some board members had pushed for the dismissal of the pastor, Father Marek Bozek. After the board reached a deadlock in a 3-3 vote, Father Bozek himself cast the deciding ballot on a resolution to disband the board and ask parishioners to elect a new board. Archbishop Burke announced the excommunication of the board members in December, when the group hired a pastor-- Father Bozek, a priest who had been suspended by his own bishop in the neighboring Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese-- in defiance of the archbishop. In May the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith announced that the excommunication had been upheld, rejecting an appeal by the parish leaders. But Edward Florek, one of the lay board members who had been excommunicated, revealed that he sought a meeting with Archbishop Burke and was promptly received back into the Church. Florek said that he had broken with the other board members after it became clear that Father Bozek would not enter into productive talks with the archbishop. Archbishop Burke, who has corresponded personally with each of the lay board members, said that he was "profoundly happy" to welcome Florek back into full communion, and issued a new invitation for the other board members to take the same step. |
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