Father Michael Pfleger returns to pulpit at St. Sabina Church
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Father Michael Pfleger, the much-loved and controversial pastor of Saint Sabina Church, led Sunday morning mass for the first time in months.
Pfleger was reinstated Saturday, after the Chicago Archdiocese review board found no reason to suspect he was guilty of sexual abuse of a teenager decades ago. Pfleger agreed to step aside from his duties in October, after a man now in his 40s accused him of sexual abuse in the 1980s.
"The Review Board has concluded that there is no reason to suspect Father Pfleger is guilty of these allegations. Having given careful consideration to their decision, which I fully accept, I now inform you that I am reinstating Father Pfleger to his position of senior pastor of the Faith Community of St. Sabina, effective immediately," Cardinal Blase Cupich wrote in a letter announcing Pfleger's reinstatement. "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 is restored."
Pfleger returned to the pulpit Sunday morning at Saint Sabina.
"I want to thank that circle of friends that I have," Pfleger said during Sunday's mass. "Everybody needs that small circle that stand by you and are always there for you."
The latest accusations in October came from a man now in his 40s, who says that in the 1980s he was a member of the Soul Children of Chicago Choir – which rehearsed at St. Sabina. That was when he says the abuse started.
The man claimed that on two separate occasions, Father Pfleger sexually abused him at the church rectory. At the time, the man was a minor.
Pfleger was also accused of sexual abuse in January 2021. Two adult brothers filed claims of more decades old abuse. That time Pfleger was also asked to step aside and was away from his ministry for several months before a panel found "insufficient reason to suspect" he was guilty.
A third man also came forward a few months later to say Pfleger made an unwanted sexual advance to him when he was 18. That man didn't file a claim with the Archdiocese.
Pfleger was also cleared of those claims, and he was reinstated at St. Sabina in May 2021 before being asked to step aside again for the more recent allegation in October.
Throughout all of these claims, Pfleger has maintained his innocence. Regarding this latest accusation he wrote in a statement in October, "Unfortunately the process of the Archdiocese today is that a priest is presumed guilty until proven innocent."
He went on to say he is completely innocent.
Attorney Eugene Hollander, an attorney for the man who made the latest sexual abuse claim, expressed his client's disappointment about the ruling. Hollander wrote that his client had come forward after the earlier allegations against Pfleger in 2021:
"My client is extremely disappointed by today's finding. We had overwhelming evidence concerning these sexual abuse allegations. Today's finding, unfortunately, will discourage other victims of sexual abuse from coming forward. The Independent Review Board did not disclose a basis for its finding.
"The man claimed that on two separate occasions Father Pfleger sexually assaulted him at the rectory of the church. The man decided to come forward after he saw media reports in 2021 about two brothers who claimed that Father Pfleger sexually abused them some 40 years earlier. The brothers both voluntarily submitted to polygraph examinations and passed. The brothers also presented evidence from a third victim who claimed that the priest sexually assaulted him shortly after he turned the age of 18. All of my clients presented credible and detailed evidence concerning the abuse."
