Pfleger to church: "You are going to have to have the balls to fire me" (2002)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | February 24, 2002 | Dave Newbart

[prolifefirst]

A defiant Rev. Michael Pfleger on Saturday dared the Chicago archdiocese to kick him out of the Catholic Church, telling a crowd of 400 people on the South Side, "I am not quitting." "You are going to have to have the balls to fire me," Pfleger said, sending a message to church leaders. "If you want to fire me, fire me."

Pfleger made his remarks at a conference on the legacy of slavery. The mostly black audience gave him a standing ovation.

His comments came after he told how a Catholic vicar, Bishop Joseph Perry, visited his St. Sabina Church and left a message saying that Pfleger should leave to start his own church, which the Sun-Times reported Friday. The "bishop came to St. Sabina and said [I should] quit so as not to disrupt the Catholic Church," Pfleger said. "I find it very difficult not to take it personally when the bishop tells me to leave."

Asked later whether he thought the church would fire him, Pfleger said, "I don't know. If that's what they want, then that's what they'll do."

Archdiocese spokesman Jim Dwyer said Saturday night that the archdiocese had no plans to oust Pfleger.

"Nobody is trying to fire him," Dwyer said. As for Pfleger's remarks, "We are not going to respond to something until we have talked to him."

Dwyer said he could not confirm Bishop Perry's remarks, but he noted that Perry and Pfleger have not spoken directly about Pfleger's future.

Two weeks ago, Pfleger announced that Cardinal Francis George had told him that he could not stay on as pastor at St. Sabina, the predominantly African-American church where he has served for 18 years, because of church rules limiting the tenure of priests. But later George agreed to extend Pfleger's term by a few years while a search for a successor is conducted.

Pfleger told the crowd at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep Academy that the tenure issue is a smokescreen. "It's not about tenure, it's not about terms, it's not about church rule or policy," he said.

Pfleger, who is white, said the real issue is how poorly Catholic leaders treat blacks.

"We want African-American culture to be embraced completely on equal grounds, and not just tolerated," he said. "We want the Catholic Church to understand what Nat Turner tried to make America understand: The slaves aren't happy being slaves. We are not just going to be satisfied being on the fringe."

Pfleger said the cardinal had declined to meet with the entire 21-member leadership cabinet of St. Sabina, which wants Pfleger to stay.

Last summer, Pfleger was at the center of a months-long controversy when he accused the Southside Catholic Conference athletic league of racism after the largely white league voted against admitting all-black St. Sabina. He said Saturday that he was later told by a church official that he had given the church a "black eye," and that he should not use the word "racist" when talking about the incident.

"I resented we were being blamed for an incident that the white Southwest Side did," Pfleger said. "Everybody wants to say there is racism, but no one wants to say there are racists."

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, which organized the conference, said he wrote George a letter supporting Pfleger.

"The cardinal should let him stay despite what the rules say," Wright said.

Copyright 2002 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc

[BunnySlippers]

Thanks.

Are priests allowed to take in foster children?

[jjm2111]

The Church has to consider the souls in Pastor Pfleger’s flock. Part of it might be spinelessness on the part of the bishop, but part of it might be the fact that they are concerned about the spiritual welfare of the parish should it go renegade.

Pfleger is obviously a demogogue who tells his parishoners what they want to hear and couldn’t care less about following his Church’s teachings, but the hirearchy sometimes takes time with these cases.

[bill1952]

they are concerned about the spiritual welfare of the parish should it go renegade.

Excuse me, but Horse, barn door, ass, bang.
Actually, it sounds somewhat like the same rhetoric that kept them from replacing known pedophiles

This parish has already gone past that.
Far better to replace him and repair the damage starting right away.

>obviously a demagogue who tells his parishioners what they want to hear and couldn’t care less about following his Church’s teachings,

Proves my point, doesn't it?

[Meggers]

I’m curious about something...does that Phlegmer dude practice his ghetto talk?