Cardinal nears milestone with no signs of slowing; Pfleger says he wants to stay at St Sabina

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Beau_Ouiville

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Well, as Mario Cuomo would say, change is good. My diocese may change its leader in the near future and one parish of note may change its pastor. It will be interesting!

"As he approaches the end of his 14th year at the helm of the Chicago Archdiocese, Cardinal Francis George plans to reflect on his priorities and return to the spiritual practice that moved and shaped him as a young priest, hearing confessions.

Following a rule for all Roman Catholic bishops, George will submit his resignation to the Vatican when he turns 75 in January. It would be the first time a Chicago bishop has reached that milestone and, while George expects to remain in his role for years to come, it has inspired him to ponder his legacy and make a concerted effort to be the pastor he aspired to be."
articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-18/news/ct-met-cardinal-george-retirement-20110318_1_roman-catholic-bishops-priests-and-parishioners-hearing-confessions

"With his parishioners firmly behind him, Father Michael Pfleger has told Cardinal George he wants to stay at St Sabina Church. But he admits that the decision is not up to him.

According to The Breaking News Center, Pfleger told the parish Sunday that he had written a letter to “Cardinal Francis George asking for permission to remain at St. Sabina, despite a rule that prohibits priests from staying at one church longer than 12 years. Pfleger has received numerous exemptions during his 30-year tenure, but he acknowledged during Sunday Mass that his time could soon be ending.”

wgntv.com/wgntv-pflger-says-he-wants-to-stay-at-st-sabina-20110320,0,2630679.story
 
I am not familiar with Leo Catholic High School, but looking at a map it appears to be only a few blocks from St. Sabina. Does anyone know what involvement Fr. Pfleger may have had with the high school over the years? Does it seem reasonable to think that Fr. Pfleger may still stay involved in the community, and even at St. Sabina on occasion?
 
Dale_M said:
I am not familiar with Leo Catholic High School, but looking at a map it appears to be only a few blocks from St. Sabina. Does anyone know what involvement Fr. Pfleger may have had with the high school over the years? Does it seem reasonable to think that Fr. Pfleger may still stay involved in the community, and even at St. Sabina on occasion?
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Well, Fr. Pfleger says he does not want to go into education. I think it is time for him to go elsewhere, regardless.
 
Beau_Ouiville said:
Well, as Mario Cuomo would say, change is good. My diocese may change its leader in the near future and one parish of note may change its pastor. It will be interesting!

"As he approaches the end of his 14th year at the helm of the Chicago Archdiocese, Cardinal Francis George plans to reflect on his priorities and return to the spiritual practice that moved and shaped him as a young priest, hearing confessions.

Following a rule for all Roman Catholic bishops, George will submit his resignation to the Vatican when he turns 75 in January. It would be the first time a Chicago bishop has reached that milestone and, while George expects to remain in his role for years to come, it has inspired him to ponder his legacy and make a concerted effort to be the pastor he aspired to be."
articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-18/news/ct-met-cardinal-george-retirement-20110318_1_roman-catholic-bishops-priests-and-parishioners-hearing-confessions

"With his parishioners firmly behind him, Father Michael Pfleger has told Cardinal George he wants to stay at St Sabina Church. But he admits that the decision is not up to him.

According to The Breaking News Center, Pfleger told the parish Sunday that he had written a letter to “Cardinal Francis George asking for permission to remain at St. Sabina, despite a rule that prohibits priests from staying at one church longer than 12 years. Pfleger has received numerous exemptions during his 30-year tenure, but he acknowledged during Sunday Mass that his time could soon be ending.”

wgntv.com/wgntv-pflger-says-he-wants-to-stay-at-st-sabina-20110320,0,2630679.story
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By all acounts Pflegar has done an excellent job at St Sabina. I hope they let him stay.
 
Beau_Ouiville said:
Well, Fr. Pfleger says he does not want to go into education. I think it is time for him to go elsewhere, regardless.
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I can understand his reluctance to take on the responsibilities of high school principal if he has no background in that field, especially since he is now in his early 60s.
 
I think I’m logged onto the Bizarro World internet somehow.

Beau want Pfleger reassigned and estesbob commends Pfleger for fine work.

What planet am I on? 😃
 
manualman said:
I think I’m logged onto the Bizarro World internet somehow.

Beau want Pfleger reassigned and estesbob commends Pfleger for fine work.
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I’ll admit Bob’s comment took me off-guard (and I wonder if he really means it), however Beau Ouiville’s statement isn’t anything new. He has said the same thing at least a couple times in the past year.

A Chicago area news website (The Chicagoist) speculated that if Fr. Pfleger were moved to a new parish, a significant number of St. Sabina parishioners would follow him there. I wonder if that is part of the reasoning behind wanting to send Fr. Pfleger to a high school?
 
Dale_M said:
I’ll admit Bob’s comment took me off-guard (and I wonder if he really means it), however Beau Ouiville’s statement isn’t anything new. He has said the same thing at least a couple times in the past year.

A Chicago area news website (The Chicagoist) speculated that if Fr. Pfleger were moved to a new parish, a significant number of St. Sabina parishioners would follow him there. I wonder if that is part of the reasoning behind wanting to send Fr. Pfleger to a high school?
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I’m getting old, then. I’ve been watching Beau’s posts for a long time wondering if he’d ever have anything critical to say about somebody on the left side of politics and you’re saying I’ve MISSED it!? 😉

In regards to Pfleger, this is Exhibit A of why priests are rotated in the first place. Catholic parishes aren’t supposed to be a cult of personality around the pastor, they’re supposed to be about Christ. (Though I’ll surely admit to having deeply mourned the loss of outstanding priests at times myself)
 
manualman said:
I think I’m logged onto the Bizarro World internet somehow.

Beau want Pfleger reassigned and estesbob commends Pfleger for fine work.

What planet am I on? 😃
Click to expand...
Agree - having just checked into Bizarro World myself.

whodda thunk it???
 
manualman said:
In regards to Pfleger, this is Exhibit A of why priests are rotated in the first place. Catholic parishes aren’t supposed to be a cult of personality around the pastor, they’re supposed to be about Christ. (Though I’ll surely admit to having deeply mourned the loss of outstanding priests at times myself)
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Amen! Our parish took a huge hit a few years ago when the pastor was re-assigned. He was one of the few fluent Spanish speaking priests. Another priest (nearly 150 miles away) that had a very large Latino congregation had to step down because of medical conditions, our priest was re-assigned. The uproar the followed was huge. Our numbers plummeted, and people complained incessantly for the first year about our new pastor (for the audacity of being different–even though he was assigned).

Well, 4 years later things are back to normal. Everyone loves our priest and our numbers are back up. But what occurred when our former priest left was horrible. And if the best way to keep this kind of thing from happening is to rotate on a regular basis, I say it is a good policy.
 
Dale_M said:
A Chicago area news website (The Chicagoist) speculated that if Fr. Pfleger were moved to a new parish, a significant number of St. Sabina parishioners would follow him there. I wonder if that is part of the reasoning behind wanting to send Fr. Pfleger to a high school?
Click to expand...
That’s one of the reasons why, in our diocese, when a pastor is transferred, it is almost always to a parish too far to make it easy for parishioners to follow. It’s very disruptive to all the other parish ministries and can lead to a “cult of personality.”
 
Dale_M said:
I’ll admit Bob’s comment took me off-guard (and I wonder if he really means it), however Beau Ouiville’s statement isn’t anything new. He has said the same thing at least a couple times in the past year.

A Chicago area news website (The Chicagoist) speculated that if Fr. Pfleger were moved to a new parish, a significant number of St. Sabina parishioners would follow him there. I wonder if that is part of the reasoning behind wanting to send Fr. Pfleger to a high school?
Click to expand...
By all account Pflegar has done en excellent job Pastoring his Parish. His occassioal forays into politics need to be (and appear to have been) reigned in but that does not disqualify him from being Pastor.
 
Corki said:
That’s one of the reasons why, in our diocese, when a pastor is transferred, it is almost always to a parish too far to make it easy for parishioners to follow. It’s very disruptive to all the other parish ministries and can lead to a “cult of personality.”
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Which is why I think it is time for Father Pfleger to go. He’s done a good job, but it is too long in one parish.
 
The Question is who will come to St. Sabinas, how will they be received, will this parish survive?
 
thomas_jd said:
The Question is who will come to St. Sabinas, how will they be received, will this parish survive?
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The proper words from Fr. P, a graceful exit, a warm welcome to the new
pastor, etc., will go a long way toward the growth of St. Sabina’s.

It’s really that simple, IMO.
 
I don’t know much about Father Pfleger but I don’t care for politics from the pulpit. I can get politics from a myriad of sources and that is not the reason I go to church. Once I hear it then I am off to another parish.
 
Cordelil said:
I don’t know much about Father Pfleger but I don’t care for politics from the pulpit. I can get politics from a myriad of sources and that is not the reason I go to church. Once I hear it then I am off to another parish.
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Well, Father Pfleger has not come up with much politics from the pulpit. He’s done a lot of community work.

My point is that no priest sets his own rules in the diocese. If the rule is that pastors must move on, he should move on. I guess rules have reasons.
 
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