In the end, owning property trumped membership in the Church.
A St. Louis Circuit Court judge ruled yesterday that the parishioners of St Stanislaus Kostka Catholic church get to keep ownership of their property and that the archdiocese had no legitimate claim on it. There has been a long running battle between these two entities which began in 2003 with the Archdiocese wanting control over the parish's 8 million dollars in assests and the parish saying no. Priests were taken away by the archdiocese and priests "hired" by the church from other places. lawsuits filed and lawsuits ended.
In the end victory by St. Stanislaus is bittersweet. They keep their property but are now no longer Catholics, no longer affiliated in any way with the Archdiocese of St. Louis or the Roman Catholic Church.
The members won, but at what price?
I would say the members won, since they kept control of "their" church.
The Catholic Archdiocese seemed to be more interested in the $8 million in assests, rather than the church membership. I am sure the members of the church still feel like Catholics, even though the Archdiocese may not officially recognize them.
Posted by: Ron | February 21, 2013 at 08:08 AM
The 8 million certainly was the temptation for sure
Posted by: Diane Meyer | February 21, 2013 at 09:46 AM
The St. Louis Archdiocese has had some real conservative dictator bishops and cardinals. Lets hope Cardinal Burke does not become the Pope.
You can tell. I am a liberal moderate Catholic.
Posted by: Framk | February 21, 2013 at 11:49 PM