Speaking at a “unity service” June 1 at St. Sabina Catholic Church in Chicago, Father Michael Pfleger said his remarks the week before at Trinity United Church of Christ were about racism, not politics.
“All my life, I have had to deal with the reality of racism,” the St. Sabina pastor said in a statement to the media before his homily. “I have committed myself to tearing down the walls that divide us wherever they stand.”
He said the days following the dissemination of the YouTube clip in which he mocked Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York were “the most painful days of my life, even more so than the death of Jarvis, my foster son.”
Jarvis was gunned down in gang crossfire not far from St. Sabina in 1998.
“This was a new level, when the world is meeting you for the first time in a minute-and-a-half YouTube clip,” he said.
were about racism, not politics
Nonsense, they were about racism and politics. In fact, they were racist and also a violation of his priestly duties, which prohibit him endorsing particular candidates in public.
Here’s a tip for Father Pfleger: When people point a video camera at you and put a microphone next to your mouth, you have to be extremely careful what you say. Somehow one might have thought the good Father could have figured this out himself.
More pain than when his foster child was killed in gang violence! This says a lot to me about the character (or lack thereof) of this priest. His reputation more important than the death of a child.
I’m sorry — I am not a Hillary fan — but his comments called her a racist and I have never seen any evidence of that. It was theatre not preaching.
This is not the first time Fr. Pfleger has gone over the top, it’s just getting national play, just last summer, the Archdiocese had to do some ‘splaining about Fr. Pfleger”
STATEMENT OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO
REGARDING REMARKS MADE BY FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER
June 4, 2007
On Saturday, May 26, 2007, during an anti-gun rally at a Riverdale gun shop, Fr. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina parish, reportedly made aggressive and inappropriate statements threatening the store’s owner.
If the comments reported are accurate, and a threat was made, it is up to the civil authorities to investigate the matter and determine what if any action should be taken against Fr. Pfleger.
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, stated, “publicly delivering a threat against anyone’s life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest. It is first of all up to the civil authorities to determine what threat might have been contained in the remarks attributed to Fr. Michael Pfleger. With that determination, the sponsors of the anti-gun rally and the Archdiocese can better decide how to respond.â€
(copped from ‘Off the Record’ at cwnews.com)
[blockquote]It is also grieving to me that a minute-and-a-half YouTube video became the headline when there are earthquakes and cyclones and tornadoes and children being killed right here in our own city because of easy access to guns and those become stories on pages 18, 19, 20, 25 and 30,” he added.[/blockquote]
The the well educated Roman Catholic priest should have chose one of those topics to speak on! Persoanally, I think it was set up to have a white Roman Catholic priest speak out to appeal to the white tradionalist christians since the past pastor of Obama’s got caught up in the very same kind of tiriad at this very same church.
Who cares! The subject matter of ministers’ sermons SHOULD NOT be subject to public or political scrutiny. It’s the church!
-Vincent
Why shouldn’t a homily be the subject of public scrutiny? His comments had nothing to do with the church, they were racial and political. The comments were not in the form of a lesson, they were totally for shock value. This was theater, not Church.
Can someone send Pope Benedict a copy of the video? I think this is the type of behaviour he said he wants to correct in the Catholic Church.
Not political? That’s the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Since when have racism and politics ever been divorced? As I recall the anti-racism training I had to take in seminary, the two quite often go hand in hand.
“I have committed myself to tearing down the walls that divide us wherever they stand.”
And his address was supposed to do this how?
I am troubled by the fact that not only the priest but the cardinal himself call his words remarks. They were not remarks. The words were delivered in a melodramatic way, shouted at times. Not only the content was lamentable but also the ham way it was delivered. This was no off the cuff series of remarks but a high-octane message with objectionable content.
Senator Obama has written that Rev. Wright, Fr. Pfleger, and Trinity UCC have been at the center of his spiritual life and at the center of who he is. What we have seen is that all three are racist. You draw the conclusion.
RS Bunker
Der Priester Pfleger braucht pflegend.
Cardinal George may be about to finish him off whether it was a commentary on racism or not.
i just saw that guy on youtube. is there a word for someone who is a racist against their own race??? i am absolutely offended by his ridiculous comments.
magnolia,
Racist come in all colors, shapes, genders and sizes! Racism is no discriminator of race. Anyone of any color can be a racist!
Fr. Pleger’s parish website:
http://a.saintsabina.org/
Their self-description:
[i]St. Sabina is a Word-based, Bible teaching African-American Catholic Church that believes in the power of praise and worship.[/i]
Nowhere on the website did I find a schedule of services. Seaching on “Mass” called up two references, one to the history of the parish, which gave the date of the first Mass in 1916, and another to Fr. Pfleger’s CV (I assume it dates his own first Mass). Also, their priest is consistently referred to as “Rev. Pfleger”, never “Father”. Not even “Father Michael”.