Bozek's Press Conference, and the Aftermath

Well, the press conference is over. No, Fr. Bozek did not declare himself a Bishop, and though he didn't have the heart to meet with the Archbishop, that is not his coat of arms in the photo above. From KSDK.com:

Father Bozek Refuses To Meet with Archbishop Burke
Created: 3/5/2008 12:18:24 PM
Last updated: 3/5/2008 12:47:07 PM

(KSDK) -- Father Mark Bozek, the head of St. Stanislaus Church, refused to meet with Archbishop Raymond Burke today. Church officials said the meeting was planned because Father Bozek left the parish in Cape Girardeau without permission to go to St. Stanislaus.

Archbishop Burke could begin the process of having Father Bozek laicized. The Archdiocese says laicized means Father Bozek would lose his priestly privileges and in effect become a lay person. But Father Bozek says his ordination of being a priest can never be taken away.

At a news conference this morning, Father Bozek said, "I will not subject myself any longer to this process which does not even attempt to appear fair."

Furthermore Father Bozek says he plans to seek incardination or membership under a different catholic priest before he becomes laicized. Father Bozek says several different Catholic Bishops, in good standing with the Vatican, have already offered him incardination or membership.

Father Bozek wouldn't name names, but he says the Bishops are not in Missouri or Illinois, but in this country as well as international.

Father Bozek explains there are territorial and personal incardination. He plans to seek personal incardination with another Bishop and plans to stay in St. Louis as the spiritual leader of St. Stanislaus for years to come.

Archbishop Burke plans to meet with news reporters this afternoon.

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Well, score one for local Catholics over KSDK-- we have a very good idea which are Bishops to whom Bozek is referring. However, this is all for nothing. There can be no incardination of a laicized priest. There can be no canonically valid, jurisdictionally valid, solution for Bozek. All he can do is further mislead the gullible and the fellow travelers in his coterie. As a Catholic, I am glad he hasn't announced himself a Bishop. As a fan of the circus, the whole story reeks of anticlimax.

I guess if he thinks it is a race to the courthouse. His Bishop in Springfield-Cape Girardeau is not likely to release him, which would be necessary for any other Bishop to incardinate him. Bozek has no jurisdiction to absolve sins, to witness marriages, to administer confirmation, and absolutely no credibility. Soon he will have no power to administer any sacraments unless there is danger of death.

Bozek has shown himself to be quite the steadfast warrior for his "vision" of the Church. Couldn't even show at the Chancery? What happened to having the courage to stand up to the abuse of his poor oppressed brothers and sisters?

Excommunicated Chairman of the Board of St. Stanislaus Bill Bialczak stood beside Bozek during the press conference. Chalk that up as corroboration of the state of affairs among the Board members as related in the interview with Roger Krasnicki posted here yesterday.

I am eager to hear what the Archbishop has to say to the press today. He, unlike some who talk a good game, is not afraid to face tough questions, or to take an unpopular stand for the truth.