Breaking: Arch of STL & Board Members Sue St. Stanislaus for Control

Breaking, big, news:

The St. Louis Archdiocese filed suit today against the St. Stanislaus Kostka church in an attempt to regain control of the former Polish parish.

Six parishioners, including three recent board members, joined the archdiocese in the suit. They are asking a St. Louis judge to void any changes to the St. Stanislaus' bylaws since 2001 and give the archbishop the authority to appoint a pastor and board there.

Last month, the St. Stanislaus board voted 4-3 to dissolve itself and allow parishioners to elect a new board at its annual meeting in August. Eight St. Stanislaus board members had been declared excommunicated by Archbishop Raymond Burke.

According to the archdiocese, the three board members who lost that vote - Bernice Krauze, Stanley Rozanski, and Robert Zabielski - were secretly reconciled with the Roman Catholic church last month in a meeting with Burke before Pope Benedict XVI re-assigned him to a new position at the Vatican.

Last month, Edward Florek, a former board member, also reconciled with the church.

The archdiocese’s release said that if the lawsuit is successful, it "is prepared to appoint a Catholic priest, Rev. Michael Marchlewski, SJ, to St. Stanislaus as administrator." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

The full dust-up is at the Saint Louis Catholic blog.