Free Republic

St. Sabina holds ‘Chiraq’ block party Posted 5:20 PM, June 13, 2015, by Erik Runge CHICAGO — Permit or not, Father Michael Pfleger’s St. Sabina block party was going to happen Saturay. The alderman who first tried to block the permit, because Spike Lee and his cast of “Chiraq” was involved, ended up changing his mind. The star of this year’s St. Sabina block party may be film maker Spike Lee, but it’s the name of his new film that’s really been hogging the spotlight.

On September 2nd, Chicago’s WGN carried a news story entitled “Chicago Summer Job Employees say they have not been paid.” Several hundred people who signed up for the city’s summer jobs program “One Summer Chicago” did not receive the paycheck they were expecting on August 29th. But don’t bother looking for this story on the web today unless you are familiar with “webcache,” for the entire piece has been erased and chucked down the familiar memory hole. Why? It could have something to do with who owes these summer jobs workers the money! That would be the St Sabina Catholic...

I was going to start this column with a quote from St. Thomas Aquinas warning against obedience to church superiors “in all things.” But I am neither a theologian nor a Catholic, so I’d better leave debates about religious dogma to those who know it better than I. What I do know something about are the problems facing Chicago neighborhoods. Crime. Unemployment. Drugs. I have been writing about those things, or more accurately their consequences, for more than three decades now. And that’s why I understand a little bit about the battles that have been fought by Michael Pfleger, the...

A few years ago, in a fit of concern that my two sons were not being academically challenged by their neighborhood public school, my husband and I forked over the big bucks to enroll them in a Roman Catholic school much like the one I attended as a child. Talk about culture clash. My two sons came home complaining about the exact same ideologies that had vexed me so deeply during my eight years as a Catholic schoolgirl. It seemed like every dinnertime was exhausted by long explanations about the historical context of the religious beliefs they were taught and...

Rev. Michael Pfleger still on forced hiatus after mocking Clinton With Rev. Michael Pfleger on a compulsory hiatus, St. Sabina Catholic Church parishioners carried on their beleaguered leader's fiery brand of activism at a gun-control demonstration Thursday in the wake of the death of the 26th Chicago Public Schools student killed this school year. St. Sabina has organized a protest at the James R. Thompson Center in downtown Chicago for each of the previous six slain Chicago Public Schools students, and Pfleger attended all of them. But the demonstration Thursday for 16-year-old Ignacio Montano, who was gunned down Monday, went...

The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago announced that Rev. Pfleger will be reinstated as the pastor of St. Sabina on June 16, after his removal following inflammatory comments about Hillary Clinton. Pfleger seems to be operating an independent cult within the Catholic Church, and he has so much power, that no Bishop or Cardinal dares to touch him. In 2002, Cardinal Francis George wanted to tranfer him out of St. Sabina, but he told the Cardinal to take a hike. He even dared the Catholic Chruch to fire him, and, astonishingly, the Archdiocese backed down: http://www.jillstanek.com/archives/2008/05/pfleger_to_arch.html There is no other priest...

The choir was booming, the dancers were swirling and open seats were scarce in the sweltering pews, but longtime members of St. Sabina Catholic Church thought Sunday's service was a bit flat in the absence of Rev. Michael Pfleger. Cardinal Francis George had ordered the fiery activist priest to take two weeks off after Pfleger's widely broadcast comments mocking Sen. Hillary Clinton and saying, in what he later called a slip of the tongue, that "America is the greatest sin against God."

CHICAGO (CBS) Father Michael Pfleger will return to the pulpit at St. Sabina Catholic Church on June 16, after Francis Cardinal George forced him to take a leave of absence over controversial comments about U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton. Pfleger created an uproar last month when he delivered a sermon at Trinity United Church Of Christ and mocked Clinton's tears on the campaign trail. George forced Pfleger to temporarily step down this week to reflect on those comments. "I have asked Father Michael Pfleger, Pastor of St. Sabina's Parish, to step back from his obligations there," the cardinal said in a...

'Snuff' the Gun Shop Owner, Priest Says By Susan Jones CNSNews.com Senior Editor May 29, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - An Illinois gun-rights group says it plans to complain to the Catholic Church after a Chicago priest at the weekend appeared to call for the murder of a suburban gun shop owner. During a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition protest at Chuck's Gun Shop & Range on Saturday, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina's Church, threatened to "snuff" shop owner John Riggio. The Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) has posted online what is says is a recording of Pfleger's remarks. PflegerIn the audio...

Defiant St. Sabina parishioners demanded Cardinal Francis George reinstate their controversial pastor, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, just hours after he was removed Tuesday from his post against his wishes. "We respectfully request the cardinal immediately reinstate Father Pfleger as full pastor of St. Sabina," Gerald Stewart, president of the parish council, told an estimated 2,000 people packed into the South Side church Tuesday evening. The group included longtime Pfleger friend the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who has been blasted for his own controversial statements on race. Stewart said parishioners wanted an immediate meeting with the cardinal to discuss "the future of...

Cardinal Removes Rev. Pfleger From St. Sabina Last Edited: Tuesday, 03 Jun 2008, 3:48 PM CDT Created: Tuesday, 03 Jun 2008, 3:39 PM CDT The firebrand pastor of St. Sabina parish was effectively removed from his duties there Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Archdiocese of Chicago. In the statement, Cardinal Francis George says he asked the Rev. Michael Pfleger, 59, to “take leave for a couple of weeks from his pastoral duties.” The statement said Pfleger “does not believe this to be the right step at this time.” “While respecting his disagreement, I have nevertheless asked him...

By Karl Maurer, Vice President and Treasurer Chicago Catholics are reacting with anger and shock over a press release by Cardinal George late Friday afternoon. The release reads as follows: "Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., learned from the news media that the Rev. Al Sharpton has been invited to speak at St. Sabina's on February 9 in the course of celebrating Black History Month. The Cardinal supports the celebration but does not approve of the invitation because of the Rev. Sharpton's present political candidacy and his pro-abortion stance." "Since the homily at Mass is a liturgical action, the homilist is to...