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	St. Stanislaus Board Votes to Disband Itself By Cheryl Wittenauer Fort Mill Times June 6, 2008 http://www.fortmilltimes.com/124/story/187453.html ST. LOUIS — The lay board that oversees a predominantly Polish parish at odds with the Archdiocese of St. Louis has voted to disband itself. The vote Thursday at St. Stanislaus Kostka church in St. Louis will allow parishioners to elect a new board at a meeting in August. The parish has been involved in a long dispute with Archbishop Raymond Burke, who has asked the Vatican to defrock the priest, The Rev. Marek Bozek. Both the board and Bozek have been declared excommunicated. Three of the six lay members of the now-disbanded board this week sought to fire Bozek. The board reached a stalemate in two consecutive 3-3 votes on whether to retain Bozek's services. On Thursday, Bozek made a motion to disband the board and cast the deciding vote. Bozek's outspoken support of women's ordination and gay and divorced Catholics has attracted new parishioners who were disenfranchised from the Roman Catholic church. Still others in the parish are unhappy with where Bozek is leading the congregation; some have left. Bozek said most parishioners approve of what's happening at St. Stanislaus. "The most democratic way is to go and ask parishioners to make their voices known by vote," Bozek said. Stan Rozanski, a board member who voted against Bozek, said he wasn't happy with the direction of the parish and has considered leaving. He is a fifth-generation member of the parish. Rozanski said he cannot embrace a set of values Bozek laid out in a vision statement a few months ago. It includes ordination of women and a married priesthood, sharing Holy Communion with everyone regardless of religion, and election of bishops by the laity. "I'd like nothing more than for one of my granddaughters to be the pastor of St. Stanislaus - provided it's within the doctrine of the Catholic Church," Rozanski said. He believes most of the new parishioners really like Bozek and his vision. Others are just happy to have a priest. Rozanski said he's also put off by Bozek's "willingness to associate" with Emmanuel Milingo, a renegade Zambian archbishop who was excommunicated after marrying a woman and launching a campaign for the Vatican to allow priests to marry. Bozek confirmed Friday that he's had conversations with Milingo or his representatives. He has said he's in the process of talking to bishops and former bishop to bring St. Stanislaus under the authority of one of them. But Bozek said Milingo sought him out, not the other way around. He added that Milingo is "not an option" because of his association with the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. Last month, the Vatican upheld Burke's orders to excommunicate the lay board, ruling the six members persisted in "schism," or breaking with the church. Burke has cited the board's refusal to conform St. Stanislaus to the same legal and financial structure as other parishes. Burke also objects to the board's hiring of Bozek, who didn't have his bishop's permission to leave his assigned parish in Springfield. The parish hired Bozek to replace a priest Burke removed.
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