Bulletin: “Mr. Joseph Granicke Recognized as Procurator for St. Paul Parish"

Bulletin from the Friends of St. Paul: “Mr. Joseph Granicke Recognized as Procurator for St. Paul Parish”

To Our Fellow Parishioners of St. Paul Parish in the Archdiocese of St. Louis

We are delighted to announce that His Excellency, Archbishop Rozanski, Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, has acknowledged Mr. Joseph Granicke as procurator for St. Paul Parish in matters pertaining to All Things New. The full texts of our communication to the Archbishop informing him of our action and his confirmation of the same are attached as appendices of this Bulletin. (See PDF below)

Our Model Option D petition was hand-delivered in writing to Fr. Chris Martin, Vicar for Strategic Planning, on December 21st of last year.[1] In accordance with Canon Law, out of concern for the rights and due process of all parishioners, and having already been authorized by a number of Mandates, Mr. Granicke signed that petition as Procurator.[2] Out of a desire for an abundance of clear and reciprocal communication, the Friends of St. Paul wrote a letter to His Excellency on December 28th, 2022 confirming Mr. Granicke as Procurator and presenting copies of all signed Mandates collected at that point. His Excellency has replied to that letter with a positive acknowledgement of Mr. Granicke’s role and receipt of those instruments appointing him to the same.

This acknowledgement DOES NOT constitute a decision by His Excellency on the Model Option D petition. It is merely his recognition of our procurator as a canonical legal reality and is an additional confirmation of the Archdiocese’s commitment to consider our concerns as members of the faithful laity. By Canon Law, His Excellency has ninety days to make a positive or negative decision on the petition, or the law presumes a negative decision on his part should the ninety days expire without his communication of a written decree to our parish.[3] Therefore, His Excellency has no need to issue a decision on our petition before March 21st, 2023.

We sincerely thank His Excellency, Archbishop Rozanski, for his communication with us as we continue our efforts to preserve the parish of St. Paul.

Presented for Publication by the Friends of St. Paul Mandate Team on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, February 2nd, 2023.

ENDNOTES

[1]

There may be some question about our consideration of the Model Option D as a petition. Canon Law is clear on this point. Canon 15 §2 “Ignorance or error about a law, a penalty, or fact concerning oneself… is not presumed.” At the time of our drafting and signing of the Model Option D petition, the law code of the Catholic Church presumed that all signatories were aware of the following laws. Canon 1732 “What is established in the canons of this section concerning decrees must be applied to all singular administrative acts which are given in the external forum outside a trial excepting those which have been issued by the Roman Pontiff or an ecumenical council.” AND Canon 1734 §1 "Before proposing recourse a person must seek the revocation or emendation of the decree in writing from its author. When this petition is proposed, by that very fact suspension of the execution of the decree is also understood to be requested.” Therefore, that written Model Option D, which did not follow the mechanisms of the All Things New feedback requirements and did meet the requirements for a petition according to the Code of Canon Law of the Catholic Church, qualifies as a petition to be exempted from further consideration in the All Things New plan.

[2]

Can. 225 §1. “Since, like all the Christian faithful, lay persons are designated by God for the apostolate through baptism and confirmation, they are bound by the general obligation and possess the right as individuals, or joined in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation is made known and accepted by all persons everywhere in the world. This obligation is even more compelling in those circumstances in which only through them can people hear the gospel and know Christ.”

Can. 221 §1. “The Christian faithful can legitimately vindicate and defend the rights which they possess in the Church in the competent ecclesiastical forum according to the norm of law.”

Can. 1481 §1. “A party can freely appoint an advocate and procurator…”

Can. 1484 §1. “Before the procurator and advocate undertake their function, they must present an authentic mandate to the tribunal.”

[3]

Can. 57 §1. Whenever the law orders a decree to be issued or an interested party legitimately proposes a petition or recourse to obtain a decree, the competent authority is to provide for the matter within three months from the receipt of the petition…

§2. When this time period has passed, if the decree has not yet been given, the response is presumed to be negative with respect to the presentation of further recourse.

Bullentin from the Friends of St. Paul.pdf

Download PDF • 2.56MB