Crime & Law
The Rev. Michael Pfleger Removed From St. Sabina Church Amid New Allegation of Sexual Abuse
The Rev. Michael Pfleger appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Sept. 19, 2019. (WTTW News)
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, the longtime leader of St. Sabina Catholic Church and a vocal social justice and antiviolence activist, has been removed from the South Side parish following a new allegation of sexual abuse.
Cardinal Blase Cupich announced Pfleger’s removal in a letter Saturday after Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review received an allegation that Pfleger sexual abused a minor more than 30 years ago.
Cupich said he asked Pfleger to “step aside from ministry” and leave the parish while the allegation is investigated, but added that Pfleger “strongly denied the allegation.”
“We do not presume the truth or falsity of an allegation until the process is complete and our Independent Review Board has made a recommendation that I accept,” he wrote in the letter. “Only by conducting a thorough and impartial review can we ensure fairness to all concerned.”
Pfleger, who has served at St. Sabina since 1981, posted a statement online Saturday calling the latest allegation against him “an absolute lie.”
“My background has been investigated from high school, college, graduate school, and all the years of my ministry and all accusations were determined to be unfounded,” he said.
Pfleger has previously been accused of sexual abuse following other decades-old allegations.
He was placed on leave in January 2021 amid allegations from two brothers who said Pfleger sexually abused them as children starting in the 1970s. He stepped away again in 2022 following a separate allegation, but Pfleger has repeatedly been cleared by Archdiocese investigations and reinstated at St. Sabina.
Cupich seemingly referenced those past allegations in his letter, stating that “(a)s your parish has been through this before, I can well understand your distress in learning of this development.”
“I appreciate your patience and ask you to recall that our process of investigation and making a determination has proven effective in protecting the rights of all,” he wrote. “During this time, I assure you of my prayers.”
