The South Side parish of St. Sabina exploded with shouts of joy and a standing ovation Sunday morning at the news firebrand Catholic pastor Rev. Michael Pfleger would be returning June 16. Cardinal Francis George temporarily removed the outspoken priest from his parish last week following comments Pfleger made about then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Pfleger had said Clinton believed she was entitled to the Democratic nomination because she is white. Pfleger is white, while most of his parishioners are African-American.
At a three-hour Sunday mass filled with songs and dancing, pastoral associate Kimberly Lymore read a letter from Pfleger in which the priest wrote, "This has been a very painful time for me personally and for our church family."
"Let this time be a teaching moment for us to hear the Lord, to grow closer to him and become even stronger to build a kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven," Pfleger wrote.
Lymore said parish leaders were told by Cardinal George that Pfleger will continue as pastor of the church he has led for 30 years with "no restrictions" -- other than not being able to mention publicly the names of presidential candidates or campaign for them. On hearing this, several parishioners called out "That's all right."
Asked if it was fair that Pfleger was restricted from talking about the candidates, longtime parishioner Michelle Wong Scott said, "a lot of times, when you're a member, you have to follow your leadership and do what your leaders tell you to do." She said if Cardinal George had removed Pfleger permanently, the parish would have continued the work he started.
Two other parishioners, Rhonda Williams and Leslie Ross, who are not Catholic, said they would have left St. Sabina's and followed Pfleger to a new church if he had been removed.
"I'm here because of the pastor, what he's done for me spiritually," Williams said.
"Father definitely challenges you," said Ross, noting that 79th Street near St. Sabina had a lot of drug problems before he came. She also credited Pfleger with closing down a house of prostitution and ministering to gang members.
"He's not a pastor that just talks and preaches and then goes in his little rectory and sits down and does nothing for the community," Ross said. "He always put himself out there on the line. He's not telling us to go out there and do anything he wouldn't do first. He's about change."
Pfleger's comments on Clinton earned him national attention, because he made them as a guest at Trinity United Church of Christ and they ran on YouTube.
The rhetoric of the church's retired pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, had already caused trouble for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.
Obama quit the church after Pfleger's remarks.
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