Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Peace, and my greetings to each of you. You are, I am aware, in a time of discernment and are faced with a decision regarding the return of St. Stanislaus to again be a Roman Catholic parish.

Over the past year, since arriving in St. Louis, I have met with the members of the board of directors of St. Stanislaus to find a way in which the parish could be re-established while, at the same time, addressing the fears expressed by many of you over the last seven years that the parish would be closed and its property sold with the proceeds being used for other purposes within the archdiocese.

One of the concerns expressed again and again was that, even if an archbishop made a commitment to keep the parish operating so long as Roman Catholics of Polish heritage wanted to have a parish and were willing to support it, he could not bind his successors.

Working with the members of the St. Stanislaus Board, we have developed the concept of the present corporation continuing to own the parish property and the cash and securities that it holds and leasing, without charge, the parish church and rectory to a new parish corporation, founded on the model of other parish corporations in the archdiocese, of which the pastor would be the president. The Polish Heritage Center would not be leased to the parish corporation, but it would be available, without charge, for all parish functions. The pastor and the board of directors of the St. Stanislaus Corporation would collaborate on fundraising and in other matters relating to the parish and the parish property.

It is my intention that this arrangement continue in perpetuity and that St. Stanislaus always be there as a personal parish for Roman Catholics of Polish ethnicity or language.

Continue reading this story on the St. Louis Review website »

Since 1956, the Archdiocese of Saint Louis has sent its own priests of the Archdiocese as missionaries to La Paz, Bolivia in South America. Due to the shortage of native priests in the Archdiocese of La Paz, Archbishop Abel Antezana requested that Archbishop Joseph Ritter send priests from Saint Louis to serve in La Paz.

Archbishop Ritter said that the decision to send priests of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis as foreign missionaries was the most important decision in his twenty-three years as a bishop. This has been a special blessing for the priests, as well as for other missionaries, whether the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in O’Fallon, Missouri, or the Papal Volunteers in Latin America (PAVLA).

The 2010 Annual Collection for the support of the Latin America Apostolate will take place on the weekend of July 31-August 1, 2010. Our St. Louis priest missionaries and the people they serve in Bolivia depend on our support. Please help us to continue this extraordinary missionary work by offering your prayers and sacrifices on the weekend of July 31-August 1. Thank you!

More: Archbishop Carlson asks, "Please give generously to the Latin America Apostolate collection" [St. Louis Review]

Read more about the Annual Appeal and Collection for the Latin America Apostolate »