The infamous Father Pfleger of Chicago has withstood creating scandal before and even got an award last week from Cardinal George for his service. You have to wonder what will happen now that he has upped the anti by supporting woman’s ordination.
I never could understand how this priest could remain so long with only one public rebuke about his political comments which he followed for about a whole week or two. Part of the dynamic it seems to me is that he is a pastor of a church where the parishioners are mainly Blacks. He seems to be quite popular there and so there is probably a worry about what would happen if he was yanked as pastor. Though I think the main concern should be the content of what he teaches and how it actually conforms to Catholic teacher.
I also don’t understand his appeal among his parish. His Mass is like a minstrel show without the blackface. Like he is mimicking the stereotype of the Black preacher. I find it rather offensive that just because your congregation is a majority of one race that you have to change the style of how you preach to reach out to them. Kind of like when Hillary Clinton was campaigning and facing a Black church affected a slow Southern drawl and changed grammar.
Carl Olson puts it rather succinctly.
Fr. Pfleger is, by any reasonable measure, not only a “controversialist,” but a race-baiter, a loud-mouthed hater, a lousy theologian, and a heretic. His recent remarks are not the remarks of a “good priest and pastor.” Here’s hoping that he is disciplined in a swift and appropriate manner.
Should Fr. Pfleger be fired over this. Well I would say yes since he should have been removed some time ago. Heresy at the pulpit certainly needs to be addressed and I hope that Cardinal George will address this problem instead of making statements like he did last week.
…Fr. Pfleger has been a controversialist; and controversy is easier to report on than is love. Fr. Plfeger has spoken in anger, sometimes unjustly or uncharitably; and anger is easier to capture on the camera than is love. But Fr. Pfleger is a Catholic priest and a pastor, and in that capacity, like all good priests and pastors, he acts out of love. Ask his people. Ask the sick he has visited and the dying he has attended. Ask the troubled he has consoled. Ask the young people he has counseled and the school children he has supported.
As any armchair theologian knows, when people act they are seeking a good even when what they are doing might be objectively evil. Fr. Pfleger certainly might be acting out of love – willing the good to another – but that does not excuse his past conduct and especially does not excuse open dissent with the Magisterium of the Church and ultimately the will of Christ. What Cardinal George said can be equally applied to every priest and thus also any bad priests who are visited the sick, etc.
I would suggest that people email Cardinal George about this with a short and charitable message.
16 comments
The YouTube link is just a mass of code. Could you fix it? Or is that a sign that I really don’t WANT to see it?
His Mass is like a minstrel show without the blackface.
Perfect summation of the Pfleger Phenomenon.
He’s a heretic! He is leading people astray–sheesh does that make it okay, just because he’s nice to them–that he leads them to error? Cardinal George needs to fire him, not indulge him.
I don’t believe his style, by itself, is part of his problem. Different preachers have different styles; a good preacher will adapt his style (within the range of what he can do without fakery) to communicate better with his people. As long as it’s honest and not engaging in intrinsic evils for the sake of rhetoric (no naked homilies, for example!) there’s nothing wrong with it. (Our Lord–being himself the Word of God–did pretty well the same thing when he came among us as one of us to reveal that Word to us.)
I also don’t think Fr. Pfleger’s style comes across as fake in his own context (unlike Mrs. Clinton’s affected drawl). Parishioners will normally spot and reject a fake, and Fr. Pfleger’s parishioners haven’t done that.
Fr. Pfleger’s problem isn’t so much *how* he’s preaching as *what* he’s preaching. If a preacher is out of step with the teaching of the universal Church–and Fr. Pfleger certainly appears to be–then it doesn’t really matter how well he connects with his people. If he’s out of step with the Church, he’s out of step with Christ–and what else is the point of preaching, but to help people come closer to Christ?
Peace,
–Peter
Should Fr. Pfleger be fired over this. Well I would say yes since he should have been removed some time ago.
Just Google Fr Peter Kennedy, Brisbane Australia and see what happens when a bishop looks the other way (for over 20 years) and has to be dragged kicking and screaming by Rome to discipline a dissenting priest. .
I kinda agree with Peter regarding the style – esp. because it does come across as more genuine than that of Mrs. Clinton. BUT, who knows: if he’s selling out Truth & abusing the Holy Sacrifice then it might well be exactly as the Jestor decribes: “like a minstrel show without the blackface.”
In fact, looking for more background on this “good priest” found a comment from an African American blog that said: “He’s a house honky.”
Regardless, in this PC era when we’re supposed to be “talking about race:” I hope that no one finds any of the comments posted thus far as offensive to any race —> it seems this thread is not about the “national dialog” but about the present circumstances that would see a widely known persona who is heretical and pflegrantly disregards norms re: the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass so as to even render it invalid, being left to carry on.
These are grave offenses: made all the worse because this Priest has somewhat of a national stage – and his Ordinary seems to endorse these grotesque acts, teachings & symbols (recently awarding him, and defending him).
(anyone notice the figure on the cross in the “praise and worship” video where the one hanging there has his clenched fist raised in the air? —> some problems there, let me tell you . . . including that “liberation theology” which has been mentioned!)
He is preaching heresy and bad theology. A male priesthood is about rites – not rights. He needs to go. He is creating scandal – again.
The very fact that we can identify a style shows how off the rails it is. A good priest follows the rubrics and by doing so gets his personality out of the way so that the Holy Spirit can do his work.
It’s a personality cult. That’s why we rotate our priests, to prevent such a thing. Let’s rotate Pfeger to a monastery on a far-away island. Seriously, that would be an act of charity for his soul and those who attend Saint Sabina’s.
Mark is exactly right about the cult of personality. He is right that he needs to be moved. Staying too long in a parish is bad for both the parish and the priest, as it allows ruts to develop and fuels the cult-like mentality. When I see a priest spewing out all this garbage, parroting what the world says about how we should be Catholic, it is a huge warning light that we have someone who is much more concerned with currying the favor of the elites and not so much with his being a servant in the name of Christ. we know what Scripture has to say: Matthew 18:6.
Not going to happen. If it does I will be mildly surprised. Archbishop George had the chance to act years ago and failed his inaction is what is causing his problems today.
Everything is okay now: he says he’s sorry.
Statement of Rev. Michael Pfleger
http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org/
Pastor, St. Sabina Parish, April 14, 2010
On Sunday, April 11, while preaching a sermon on the power of fear, I was referring to the fear that paralyzed the apostles, locking them in a room, leaving only John and the women at the foot of the cross. I stated that is why I believe women ought to be able to be ordained, as well as priests ought to be able to get married.
While this is my personal opinion, I do respect and follow the Catholic Church teachings and I am sorry I failed to do this.
Rev. Michael L. Pfleger
Why is everyone afraid of ‘offending’…we permit so much that is evil just so as not to offend…a simple solution would be to put a good charismatic black Priest to run the parish with Pfleiger…then when the new Priest is accepted by the people…put Pfleiger in a place where he can do no more harm..
The video illustrates a small but significant liturgical point: along with the “reform” that had the people facing the priest, many clerical slapheads developed the habit of abandoning the ambo to preach, which removes the focus from the word of God and places it on the preacher, with disastrous results. I think much clerical mischief can be attributed simply to the psychological effect this change had upon the clergy, who got used to seeing all eyes upon themselves.
It seems as though the Bishop might be afraid of being called a racist if they remove this rev. Al Sharpton wannabe. Start cleaning up the misinformation and their agents.
The good father feeds off of the adoration of his audience^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hcongregation. He ought to be reassigned, and wherever he’s reassigned he should be required to serve mass ad orientem (including the readings and homily).