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Father Michael Pfleger will be reinstated as senior pastor of St. Sabina Church after an investigation by the Archdiocese of Chicago Review Committee found that allegations of abuse against Pfleger were not founded, wrote Cardinal Blase Cupich in a letter to parishioners on Monday.
“In accordance with our child and youth protection policies, the Archdiocesan Independent Review Committee, assisted by our Child Abuse Investigation and Review Office and external investigators, proceeded to a thorough examination of the allegations, ”Cupich said in the letter. “The review board concluded that there was no reason to suspect Father Pfleger to be guilty of these allegations.”
Pfleger will be reinstated on the weekend of June 5-6, Cupich said.
“I asked Father Pfleger to take the next two weeks to prepare spiritually and emotionally to return, realizing that these months have cost him dearly,” Cupich wrote. “He agreed to do it.
Cupich thanked the community of Sainte-Sabine for their “patience and prayers during the absence of your senior pastor”.
In January, the Archdiocese of Chicago asked Pfleger to step down from his ministry after receiving an allegation of child sexual abuse. The accuser’s brother came forward later in the month with a second abuse allegation.
Pfleger’s attorney responded forcefully, calling the allegations false and accusing the brothers of trying to shake Pfleger in the matter.
In February, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services wrote in a letter to Pfleger that the agency had determined that after an assessment, a report of “suspected child abuse or neglect” child ”was“ unfounded ”.
In March, a third man charged Pfleger with sexual assault over 40 years ago.
In a statement at the time via his attorneys, Pfleger denied the allegations, calling them “false” and saying that he “had never touched this man in a sexual or inappropriate manner at any time.”
His attorneys said the accusations were totally inconsistent with Father Pflegers’ character and the memories of the thousands of young men and women who have known Father Pfleger for decades, including the accusing friends in the years when these alleged incidents allegedly took place. products.
The Congregation of Saint Sabina, a tight-knit community that has been a center of social activism for 40 years under Pfleger, stood alongside their pastor, flooding the Archdiocese’s phone lines, organizing rallies, threatening withholding $ 100,000 in monthly dues and sending 1,300 letters.
Pfleger has been the pastor of St. Sabina’s Church in Chicago’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood since 1981, best known for his activism against violence in the city.
“This past year has been a time of great trial for all of us,” wrote Cupich, “and our church, our city and our society need your testimony of the love of Jesus. Know that you will have my support and my prayers as you continue to be a light in the community.
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