Archbishop Burke seeks dissident priest's reconciliation

Published: 2008-02-12

ST. LOUIS (CNS) -- Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis said Feb. 5 that he is "safeguarding the unity of the church" by insisting that a suspended and excommunicated priest associated with the lay board of a suppressed parish meet with him. The archbishop and the priest, Father Marek Bozek, met later that day. Archbishop Burke would not discuss the meeting because he said it was private and pastoral. A priest of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Father Bozek was suspended in December 2005 by his bishop for abandoning his assignment and his diocese to take a job as pastor offered to him by St. Stanislaus Kostka Corp. at their church in St. Louis. St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish was suppressed by the archdiocese over the governing board's refusal to bring parish structures into conformity with canon law. The corporation that runs it is considered to be functioning outside the communion of the church. In December 2005, Archbishop Burke declared that the six members of the lay board and Father Bozek were excommunicated.

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