St. Sabina’s Fr. Michael Pfleger reinstated after child abuse investigation
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The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago reinstated influential Faith Community of St. Sabina leader Fr. Michael Pfleger on Saturday following an investigation into abuse allegations against the priest.
Pfleger was forced away from the church in mid-October after a man in his 40s alleged the priest sexually abused him in the late 1980s, but an investigation by the diocese determined that the allegations were unfounded, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich wrote in a letter to the St. Sabina community that was shared with the media.
“The Review Board has concluded that there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty of these allegations, which I fully accept,” Cupich said in the letter.
“I want to recognize that these months have taken a great toll on Fr. Mike and all of you, and I am committed to do everything possible to see that his good name be restored,” the letter continued.
The man who filed the allegations claimed the long-tenured priest abused him during choir practices at the church on two occasions. The man was between 13 and 17, his attorney, Eugene Hollander, said.
Pfleger is well known for his work as an anti-violence activist on Chicago’s South Side. The St. Sabina pastor regularly offers cash rewards for information that might help solve crimes and has run gun buyback events, work programs for young people and protests against gun stores.
The allegations marked the second time in two years that such claims have temporarily pulled him away from his church. In January 2021, two adult brothers then living in Texas claimed that the priest sexually abused them in the early 1970s. The archdiocese announced that the priest agreed to step away from his ministry the day after the two men filed their complaint.
Five months later, Pfleger was reinstated after an archdiocese panel found “insufficient reason to suspect” he was guilty of the sexual abuse allegations.
Saturday evening, Pfleger shared the news of his reinstatement to his large following on Facebook. He posted the cardinal’s letter along with a short note.
“Like MJ SAID “I’M BACK,” he wrote.
Many St. Sabina parishioners have stood behind the priest in his absence. Church members shared their support for Pfleger at mass the day after his Oct. 15 departure was announced, and anti-gun violence activists and parishioners rallied for an expedited investigation in November.
Pfleger will return to the St. Sabina’s pulpit to preach Sunday Mass, but first spoke before parishioners Saturday evening.
He talked about how difficult the investigation process has been and thanked supporters, he told the Tribune in a phone call.
”I’m very, very grateful. This has been really, really hard, to go through this twice in two-and-a-half years. It’s painful,” Pfleger said.
“The way the process is set up, you’re taken out right away, so you’re feeling like you’re guilty ‘till proven innocent. But I thank God it was seen that this was not true,” Pfleger added. “This is my biggest Christmas present ever.”
Hollander, the attorney who filed the allegation, criticized the archdiocese’s decision.
“We’re incredibly disappointed that the review board found the way they did,” Hollander told the Tribune on Saturday evening.
Hollander also represented the two men who came forward in 2021 with sexual abuse allegations. They had voluntarily submitted polygraph tests that supported their claims before the archdiocese determined their allegations were unfounded, Hollander said.
When the attorney presented his client to the review board Saturday morning, they told him the only thing before them were the newest allegations.
“In combination with the brothers’ claims and their evidence, and my current client’s claim, we had a staggering amount of evidence,” Hollander said.
A fourth person who is a friend of the anonymous man who made the newest allegations also claims Pfleger sexually abused him, but is unlikely to come forward to file a complaint, Hollander said, adding that he expects the most recent decision will send a “deep chilling effect and strongly discourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward.”
“Obviously the St. Sabina community really strongly rallied around Father Pfleger, and I think it’s very unfortunate that it’s kind of turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse allegations,” Hollander said.
