<p>Father Pfleger is a man of great courage, one who has used a lot of unusual methods to call attention to the widespread problems in the neighborhood in which he ministers. He has apologized for his remarks, which were unnecessarily targeted. I don’t think one Sunday sermon should undo the incredible fight he has waged in an area of Chicago where the shootings are frequent and the drug dealing is constant. He has brought unity and hope to that community for 25 years. If anyone here thinks they could do his job - well, my bet is that you wouldn’t last 25 seconds.</p>
<p>No one is disparaging Father Pfleger’s work in the community—heck most people have never heard of the man. It’s his words from the pulpit that are coming under fire. They were stupid, mean-spirited and counterproductive.</p>
<p>I’m really curious as to how the archdiocese in Chicago deals with father Pfleger. Is the archdiocese less strict than here in New York?</p>
<p>I doubt anyone would describe the archdiocese here in Chicago as less strict; you really don’t hear of any other priests making the news like Pfleger has for years, and does now. The bishop here has had his challenges with Pfleger, and I think this last incident will cause him to reconsider some of the leniency he’s given him. Pfleger is regularly in the news for being outspoken against a variety of social issues, especially cigarette marketing toward children, violence and drug use. If I remember correctly, he has been arrested, perhaps several times, for peaceful, but illegal protesting.</p>
<p>“Pfleger is regularly in the news for being outspoken against a variety of social issues, especially cigarette marketing toward children, violence and drug use. If I remember correctly, he has been arrested, perhaps several times, for peaceful, but illegal protesting.”</p>
<p>Has he been outspoken about pedophile priests? That issue has nearly bankrupted the Archdiocese of Boston. I seem to recall that there were similar problems around the country.</p>
<p>Thanks Terri. I was curious about that because Cardinal Egan doesn’t tolerate dissent and comes down hard on any priest who attracts publicity that he deems unflattering to the Church.</p>
<p>Fr. Pfleger is getting way more critical air-time than HRC herself did, mocking Sen. Obama and his supporters at a RI rally, in Feb. Everyone remember?
[Clinton</a>, Obama go at it over trade - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/25/clinton.obama/index.html]Clinton”>Clinton, Obama go at it over trade - CNN.com)</p>
<p>So tired of the double standard, yet she calls foul on the press.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Of course not, but I don’t know any priests who have been, other than those who have somehow been commissioned to serve on committees to deal specifically with this. Does he have to speak out on every tragic issue impacting this world (or the church) in order to be justified to speak out on the ones he does?</p>
<p>Zoosermom - I grew up in the south as Catholic, and years later saw how I was truly in the minority. I moved to the Chicago area where Catholicism definitely has a majority presence, but I left the Catholic church after moving here, so my perspective of how churches operate has a unique slant. While I was very angry and cynical of the church when I first left it, I did come to see how much the bishop at that time, Bernardin, was truly loved, respected and admired in the community. He was the bishop during the unraveling of the priest scandal, and himself was falsely accused of pedophilia (his accuser later recanted and asked for forgiveness) while undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, from which he ultimately died. Everyone knew he would be a hard act to follow and it has taken quite some time for those in the archdiocese to fall in line with the current bishop. I think this latest incident with Pfleger will probably be remembered as his first major public relations challenge as head of the Chicago archdiocese. </p>
<p>That all being said, the congregants at Pfleger’s church (St. Sabinas) are also very, very vocal about wanting Pfleger to stay at their church indefinitely, which is not in agreement with diocese policies. When he is finally transferred out of that parish, it will be a huge ordeal here in Chicago. I just can’t figure out where the bishop can possibly send him.</p>
<p>And I’d like to remind everyone that judging the Catholic church by one priest’s actions is a fruitless activity. Certainly Pfleger can be obnoxiously vocal and demonstrative with his views, he is certainly not the only priest with such views, and there are equal numbers with extreme views on the opposite end - we just don’t publically hear from others. But talk with them privately and ask them their personal views on controversial issues, and Pfleger certainly isn’t alone.</p>
<p>Terri, again, thank you for taking the time to post. I’m genuinely interested and find the challenge posted by Father Pfleger to be very interesting for the Church. It will definitely bear watching when the time comes for him to move.</p>
<p>zoosermom - no problem; depending on how much you want to know or understand the dynamics of this man and his relationship to the Chicago archdiocese, do a quick google search of him and look for news stories going back over ten years ago. It’ll keep you busy for a good portion of the afternoon. And I can promise you, this won’t be the last time we hear from him, or about him. Knowing his history in Chicago, I was surprised it took this long for him to create some sort of controversy in regard to this primary cycle.</p>
<p>“Of course not, but I don’t know any priests who have been, other than those who have somehow been commissioned to serve on committees to deal specifically with this.”</p>
<p>Does the Pope count?</p>
<p>“Does he have to speak out on every tragic issue impacting this world (or the church) in order to be justified to speak out on the ones he does?”</p>
<p>The priest scandal hit Boston particularly hard. Probably harder than anywhere else in the nation. It was hard to avoid the topic because it was in the news and on talk shows so frequently. And it had a huge financial impact. Cardinal Law was found to be a coward and lacking in leadership in the unraveling.</p>
<p>If this priest could spend the time to talk about something as trivial as his perception of racism in Senator Clinton, then he should be able to talk about something that resulted in far more personal pain. Of course I don’t know how widespread it was in Chicago compared to Boston. Maybe it wasn’t a big issue there.</p>
<p>Don’t delude yourself about Chicago not being impacted by it. In fact, I live in an area that is probably more politically charged than most of the Chicago area combined. Why? Because when the church decided to remove the perpetrators from their churches, they decided they wanted to keep them all in one place so they could ‘keep a better eye’ on them. So they dumped them (a dozen or so) on church property about three miles down the road from me where they have a seminary and the cardinal’s retreat house is. What makes it even more interesting is that right across the street from this seminary/cardinal’s retreat house, is a co-ed Catholic high school, that used to use this property for their annual student fundraiser walk-a-thon. The village that this property resides in raised a big stink because the church wouldn’t release the names of the priests living there, saying they were exempt because the priest were never convicted of sexual assault. The church was finally pressured enough to release the names; otherwise it would have turned into a huge national public relations nightmare, one they didn’t need. </p>
<p>So, yea, I’ve got about a dozen of those priests living three miles down the road from me, not behind locked doors, but being ‘kept an eye on’ by whomever the church has designated as appropriate to do this. </p>
<p>Regarding the huge financial impact, I guess I have a hard time swallowing this line, knowing how the Roman Catholic church is by far the wealthiest ‘institution’ in the world as defined by their assets. I look at this gorgeous, New-England style campus and acreage, its art, its buildings, its library (which was just recently rebuilt and added on to) and question what has the church made its priority.</p>
<p>As you can see, I still have quite ill feelings about Catholic church as an institution, but I can look past some of the stupid, obnoxious things Pfleger says, and see him for bucking against a tradition that tries so hard to keep its priests in line, but has failed in many ways. Pfleger alone, and single-handedly has done more for south side Chicago black Catholics than anyone could ever imagine. The unfortunate thing with his personality is that he risks turning people off to his mission when he does things like last Sunday. He has to find a balance that allows him to do his work effectively, without alientating those who support him.</p>
<p>“Don’t delude yourself about Chicago not being impacted by it.”</p>
<p>That’s a rather odd term to use given that I’ve stated that I don’t know what the situation is there other than what I’ve read.</p>
<p>“The village that this property resides in raised a big stink because the church wouldn’t release the names of the priests living there, saying they were exempt because the priest were never convicted of sexual assault.”</p>
<p>Perhaps prosecutors are overworked. It’s a bit surprising that these guys aren’t in jail.</p>
<p>“Regarding the huge financial impact, I guess I have a hard time swallowing this line, knowing how the Roman Catholic church is by far the wealthiest ‘institution’ in the world as defined by their assets. I look at this gorgeous, New-England style campus and acreage, its art, its buildings, its library (which was just recently rebuilt and added on to) and question what has the church made its priority.”</p>
<p>Boston College, as far as I know, is a separate entity from the Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese did consider bankruptcy in 2002 and there was no effect that I’m aware of to Boston College. I think that BC bought some land from the Archdiocese but I’d assume that to be an above-board transaction given the high level of scrutiny on the Archdiocese’s operations at the time.</p>
<p>In the Boston area, many private Catholic schools closed as were parishes. In fact there was a well-publicized sit-in at least one of the parishes closed in Worcester.</p>
<p>zoosermom - since you expressed interest in learning a bit more about Pfleger, here is an article from today’s Chicago Tribune you might find relevant: [Rev</a>. Michael Pfleger apologizes for sermon at Sen. Barack Obama’s former church – Christianity, Barack Obama, Illinois – chicagotribune.com](<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-pastor-02-jun02,0,7089478.story]Rev”>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-pastor-02-jun02,0,7089478.story)</p>
<p>It’ll be interesting to see how long he manages to stay quiet.</p>
<p>"zoosermom - since you expressed interest in learning a bit more about Pfleger, here is an article from today’s Chicago Tribune you might find relevant: Rev. Michael Pfleger apologizes for sermon at Sen. Barack Obama’s former church – Christianity, Barack Obama, Illinois – chicagotribune.com</p>
<p>It’ll be interesting to see how long he manages to stay quiet"</p>
<p>Thank you. I’m going to read that. It was awfully nice of you to take the time to find and post something for me. I appreciate it!</p>
<p>Well not long. He has an interview in today’s Chicago Sun-Times
with the religion editor, Kathleen Falsani. Obama is not mentioned
by name. He is recovering from hernia surgery and his ninety-six
year old father is ailing. He explains his comment about the death
of his foster son.</p>
<p>This just in: Apparently, Father Pfleger had been told the cameras wouldn’t be rolling on the Sunday he preached:eek: So, if the cameras had been on, he wouldn’t have said anything so outrageous…?</p>
<p>He said that Trinity’s live streaming was down all day…
so he didn’t know it was on. Still not what I expect from
Father Pfleger.</p>
<p>For me, the life long, on the ground good he has done
far outweighs this…and he’s already apologized over
and over.</p>
<p>^Do you act more PC in front of a camera when the whole world is watching or when you are with your friends? </p>
<p>Are you more likely to make fun of, let’s say Britney Spears when you’re with your peers or to her face?</p>
<p>"Do you act more PC in front of a camera when the whole world is watching or when you are with your friends? "</p>
<p>Phil 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;</p>
<p>Luke 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.</p>
<p>2 Peter 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.</p>
<p>Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;</p>
<p>I Timothy 3</p>
<p>This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.</p>
<p>A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;</p>
<p>Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;</p>
<p>One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;</p>
<p>Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.</p>
<p>Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.</p>
<p>Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;</p>
<p>Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.</p>
<p>etc.</p>