St. Stanislaus

St. Stanislaus Kostka was established in 1880 as a predominantly Polish parish. Located at 1413 N. Twentieth Street just northwest of downtown St. Louis, it was originally administered by the Franciscans. It was the mother church for three other Polish parishes-St. Casimir(1889), St. Hedwig (1904) and our Lady of Czestochowa (1907). By the 1950s it had lost most of its local parishioners but continued to receive ethnic support.

On December 29, 2005, because of the decision of the Board of Directors to commit an act of schism, and hire, on their own authority, their own minister of worship, the parish was suppressed.  Since that date, St. Stanislaus Kostka Corporation has existed outside of the Catholic Church’s canonical structure.

In July 2008, three board members of the St. Stanislaus Kostka Corporation reconciled themselves with the Catholic Church, and personally asked the archbishop for help in reconciling the parish with the Archdiocese of St. Louis. This is the result of several interested parties joining together and working to bring Saint Stanislaus back into the Roman Catholic Church.

St. Stanislaus Kostka is no longer recognized by the Vatican, the Archdiocese of St. Louis, or even the Internal Revenue Service as being part of the Roman Catholic Church.  We remain hopeful that a reconciliation will be reached.  As of May 2010, there is nothing new to report.