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| Candidates for St.stan's Board Warned of Possible Excommunication By Tim Townsend St. Louis Post-Dispatch August 10, 2008 http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/religion/story/5AABEE331C64E4CB862574A1004F4EF2?OpenDocument ST. LOUIS -- Bishop Robert Hermann, the St. Louis archdiocese's interim leader, warned eight parishioners at St. Stanislaus Kostka church Saturday that they could face excommunication if they ran for the lay board in this weekend's church elections. "It's a threat from Bishop Hermann that I better not try for the board because my soul is in danger," said Marion Kirkiewicz of Fenton. Letters admonishing the parishioners for running for the board and warning them of the consequences of election were hand-delivered Saturday night. Some of the parishioners returned home in the evening to find the letter taped to their front doors. "I haven't even been elected yet," said Marybeth McBryan of St. Louis. "It's like the archdicoese is wagging their finger in my face." The archdiocese had filed a motion in St. Louis Circuit Court to try to stop the elections, but dropped that demand last week as part of a compromise with St. Stanislaus. Last month, the archdiocese sued St. Stanislaus, asking a judge to restore the church to the structure that existed before its board re-wrote the bylaws in 2001, then again in 2004, eventually eliminating the archbishop's authority. Elizabeth Westhoff, assistant director of communications for the St. Louis archdiocese, said the archdiocese would not comment on private correspondance or on anything pertaining to the pending lawsuit. |
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