<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/new.gif" border=0> Former Seneca priest at embattled parish near St. Louis willing to resign

Local News

Discussion

November 23, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Nov 23, 2009, 10:41 AM CST

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The priest at a predominantly Polish parish in St. Louis at odds with the archdiocese told parishioners that he is willing to step down if it will help the parish.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Rev. Marek Bozek told parishioners at St. Stanislaus Kostka on Sunday that he doesn’t want his personal circumstances to get in the way of what is best for the parish.

“If it is necessary for me to step aside and continue my ministry elsewhere, I am willing to do that so long as I know that you will not go without pastoral care and the Sacrament,” Bozek said.

The Archdiocese of St. Louis filed suit last year to regain control of St. Stanislaus. Since 2001, the church board has twice amended its bylaws giving it control over church matters.

Bozek declined to comment on the timing of his announcement, citing the litigation.

Bozek was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau on Dec. 18, 2002. He served as associate pastor of St. Canera Parish, Neosho; St. Mary Parish, Seneca; and Nativity of Our Lord Mission, Noel, from the time of his ordination until August 2004, when he was reassigned as associate pastor of St. Agnes Cathedral in Springfield.

The Polish-born Bozek arrived at St. Stanislaus in 2005. His version of Catholicism that includes support for acceptance of homosexuality and women’s ordination has brought in new parishioners but driven away many traditional members.

The archdiocese welcomed the news of Bozek’s possible departure.

“If that opens up an avenue for reconciliation, that would be a wonderful thing,” Bernard Huger, an attorney for the archdiocese, told the newspaper. “Clearly we don’t want to have a trial, we just want to have St. Stanislaus returned as a Catholic parish.”

Huger said St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson has been clear with St. Stanislaus attorneys that he is “most willing to resolve this.”

Tensions are high at St. Stanislaus, between supporters and opponents of Bozek.

“He’s bringing people back while the rest of the Catholic church is driving them away,” member Diana Daley said after Mass on Sunday. “He says he’s willing to step down, but if he does, they might as well close this church.”

Grzegorz Koltuniak, a longtime critic of Bozek’s, said after the pastor’s announcement that he’d been “waiting for this moment from the beginning.”

Text Only

Local News

Water company cites reconnections
The May 22 tornado has caused a dramatic drop in water usage for the Missouri American Water Co., but things are starting to turn around — one reconnection at a time.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
Survivor of ’78 Connor collapse dead at age 64
A big story in the history of Joplin was the 1978 collapse of the Connor Hotel at Fourth and Main streets. Alfred Summers, the man at the heart of that story, died at 6:41 a.m. Friday at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Joplin after an illness. He was 64.

February 10, 2012
County asks for dismissal of sheriff’s suit
The Jasper County Commission is the final authority in budget allocations, including those from the county’s Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund, county lawyers have argued in a motion recently filed in Jasper County Circuit Court.

February 10, 2012
Winter weather back in forecast
The arctic front that passed over Missouri on Friday will bring cold temperatures to the region tonight.

February 10, 2012
Weather service upgrading radar at Springfield station
The National Weather Service radar station at Springfield will be out of service for about two weeks to permit the installation of dual-polarization technology.

February 10, 2012
MSSU, PSU to conduct financial-aid events
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Pittsburg (Kan.) State University each will conduct events Sunday to help high school seniors with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

February 10, 2012
Authorities term deaths of teens murder-suicide
Authorities say a teenage woman apparently shot her estranged boyfriend several times before turning the gun on herself and taking her own life.

February 10, 2012
Mike Pound: One man in America wants his robo call
I like to think I have pretty thick skin. If I didn’t, all the emails I get with the subject lines that read “Hey moron” would bother me. But they don’t, so I do.

February 10, 2012
Proposed Kan. abortion ban blocked by abortion foe
An influential anti-abortion legislator is blocking the push for a ban on abortion in the Kansas Constitution, highlighting a split among abortion opponents over tactics and frustrating the group advocating the “personhood” proposal Friday.

February 10, 2012
Kansas House GOP issues tax plan
House Republican leaders are proposing a plan to cut Kansas income taxes, removing one key objection to an earlier proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback.

February 10, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Water company cites reconnections

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

<img src=" http://www.joplinglobeonline.com/images/zope/new.gif" border=0> Former Seneca priest at embattled parish near St. Louis willing to resign

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Site Map

Contact Us