They Deserve Better

 

They Deserve Better

 

 Simply put they are hard working, church-going folk; neighbors from an aging community. The parishioners of St Stanislaus have devoted a big part of their lives to their faith and parish which is located just north of downtown St Louis.

 

 Parishioners of St Stanislaus have faithfully donated to their church for years. The parish was originally established back in 1880 to help serve the Polish community in St Louis. In 1928 parishioners generously opened their pocketbooks when fire damaged the church to help rebuild the church. They gave again back in the 70’s when the church, like the neighborhood surrounding them, was beginning to deteriorate badly. In addition to renovations they acquired land around the parish and built a Polish Heritage Center, a visible display of their proud ancestry.

 

 Today they continue to give to the church that is worth approximately nine million dollars in total assets. Why does the dollar amount matter? It matters because like it or not the church is a business. It matters because there are two sides lining up to say that the money belongs to them. It matters because of the parishioners who have done nothing but give to this parish all their lives deserve to be treated fairly.

 

   Archbishop, Raymond Burke of St Louis, believes the diocese should take control of the assets. The lay board of directors feels strongly that the assets of St Stanislaus belong solely to the parish itself. Who’s right? The archdiocese does not dispute the fact that the deed to the church property belongs to the parish corporation, not the archdiocese.   Nor is their much doubt that Burke’s motives for taking over the assets is primarily economical.  In recent years the diocese has run up its share of lawsuits and bills regarding a number of priests on trial for sexual abuse.

 

 In one such case, Father Bryan Kuchar was found guilty of sexually abusing minors. One such victim was a 16 year-old boy repeatedly sodomized by Fr. Kuchar in 1999. Archdiocesan officials denied any financial involvement in Kuchar’s defense only to admit after repeatedly being questioned they had paid “a portion” of Kuchar’s fees. The deceit and distrust doesn’t stop there. A nun, a priest, and employee who knew or suspected Kuchar’s guilt remained silent as the first trial progressed. Only during the second trial (the first ended in a hung jury) did they agree to testify after being directly approached by the prosecutor’s office.

 

 The audacity of Kuchar is evident even behind bars where he has campaigned, unbelievably, to remain a priest. His efforts include, “writing to former parishioners urging them to disclose any potentially harmful or embarrassing information about one of his victims or his family.”*

 

 Do the good people of St Stanislaus deserve to have their donations spent defending men like this? Does any good Catholic really deserve this? The Catholic Church desperately needs to look in the mirror and ask, “who owes whom?” People that have put so much money, effort and faith into a church they love, truly, deserve better.

 

* SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priest) press release