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OPEN LETTER TO THE ARCHDIOCESE
OF ST. LOUIS
ARCC – www.arcc.org
The Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church
invites all in the St. Louis Christian community to unite
behind St. Stanislaus parish as it struggles to continue
to provide our faith-filled Polish-American neighbors with
their traditional place of worship, fellowship, and prayer.
We share the sadness expressed by Archbishop Burke that conflict
over possessions has added to the damage to our Catholic
leadership caused by other problems.
We call upon Archbishop Burke to relate to St. Stanislaus
parish within the traditional Catholic principle of subsidiarity,
which requires that the smaller community decide on and administer
all its own affairs for which it has capability. This was
most recently advocated by Pope John Paul II:
"This is nothing other than the principle of subsidiarity,
which requires that a community of a higher order should
not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower
order, depriving the latter of its rightful functions; instead
the higher order should support the lower order and help
it to coordinate its activity with that of the rest of society,
always with a view to serving the common good (cf. Centesimus
Annus, 48 [May 1, 1991]).
Public opinion needs to be educated in the importance of
the principle of subsidiarity for the survival of a truly
democratic society."
"Message of the Holy Father John Paul II to the Participants
in the Sixth Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of
Social Sciences"
In the case of St. Stanislaus parish, the past
century of effective stewardship is overwhelming evidence
that they have exercised exemplary stewardship in their parish
affairs. Consequently, it is an offense against the principle
of subsidiarity to attempt to override their well-working
structures.
We recommend that the good people of St. Stanislaus once
again approach the Archbishop with a legally enforceable
and acceptable arrangement which will establish the right
of St. Stanislaus to continue to exist as a viable and faithful
Catholic parish community, and to welcome Fr. Marek Bozek
as their pastor.
We urge the Archbishop to build upon the spirit of good
will that he has brought to St. Louis and ease this wound
to the Body of Christ which appears to be deepening rather
than healing. The whole nation is watching this painful struggle
in St. Louis and we call Archbishop Burke to demonstrate,
in the spirit of Second Vatican Council, that Church belongs
to the people, rather than the people to the Church.
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