From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

In the strongest evidence yet that the long legal battle between the St. Louis Archdiocese and St. Stanislaus Kostka Church could soon be resolved, the church’s pastor, the Rev. Marek Bozek, told parishioners Sunday that he may be leaving within months to start his own church.

“I told them that I, and the board, have been working hard to reach a settlement (with the archdiocese) that is acceptable to both parties,” Bozek said in an interview Monday. “And that if and when we do, I most probably will not be part of the picture at St. Stanislaus.”

Bozek said he could not discuss the details of the settlement negotiations, but he said they were “moving forward.” He said he was hopeful that “a happy ending” would occur for St. Stanislaus “within months.”

“I don’t want to be the last standing impediment to those negotiations,” he said.

In November, Bozek made a similar announcement to the parish, saying if his departure would be better for the church, he would step down.

Bernard Huger, an attorney for the archdiocese, did not return a call for comment. But in November, Huger said Bozek’s presence was not the only obstacle the archdiocese faces in regaining the church.

“The rest of the parish would need to want to get back in communion with the church,” Huger said at the time.

Check out the link for more background on this complicated — and bitterly divisive — conflict.