By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – St. Louis Archbishop Raymond Burke took the impasse with the St. Stanislaus parish to the pulpit on Sunday. Parishoners at yesterday's mass at St. John the Apostle and Evangelist say Burke called the lay board that controls St. Stanislaus assets "defiant."
He also reportedly described its treatment of him "a scandal."
Parishoners at the largely Polish St. Stanislaus parish will vote next Sunday on whether to stay and turn over church assets or break off from the archdiocese. A lay board of directors has controlled church assets for more than a century, but Burke says that's an illegal arrangement under canon law.
Many members of St. Stanislaus say they fear Burke will close the church if he gets control of the assets.