Father Michael Pfleger Removed From Saint Sabina Again After New Sex Abuse Accusation Surfaces

AUBURN GRESHAM — Father Michael Pfleger has been removed from his leadership position at Saint Sabina Parish as the Archdiocese of Chicago investigates another accusation of sexual assault against the outspoken priest.

Pfleger said he is being investigated for an accusation of sexual abuse against a girl when she was a student at Saint Sabina School between 1993-95, he said in a statement on Saturday.

The senior pastor at Saint Sabina, 1210 W. 78th Place, Pfleger has been asked to step aside from his role at the parish and live off campus while the accusation is being investigated, Cardinal Blase Cupich wrote in a letter to parishioners.

“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,” Cupich wrote in the letter. “Only by conducting a thorough and impartial review can we ensure fairness to all concerned.”

Pfleger called the accusation an “absolute lie” and an effort to stifle his social and political advocacy.

“I have been publicly attacked due to my public position against gun violence, my opposition against the inhumane policies and practices of Donald Trump, and even because of my friendship with Minister Farrakhan,” Pfleger said in a statement. “I believe this is another attempt and another attack by those who have sought to destroy me for years and another attempt by someone to get money from the Archdiocese and to silence me.”

Pfleger has faced four previous accusations of sexual abuse during his time at Saint Sabina.

In October 2022, Pfleger was temporarily removed from his role as investigators looked into a claim the pastor sexually abused a boy while he were a minor more than 30 years ago.

Child sexual abuse allegations also sidelined Pfleger in January 2021, when two brothers came forward saying he groomed and sexually abused them for years, beginning when they were around 12 and 13 years old. In March of that year, a third man accused the church leader of abusing him in the ’70s when the man was 18 years old. 

Pfleger was reinstated after the previous allegations were investigated, with the archdiocese finding no evidence of wrongdoing. His return to the pulpit in 2021 saw Pfleger greeted by huge crowds of supporters.

In his statement Saturday, Pfleger blasted the protocols for investigating accusations of child sexual assault by priests, saying the “presumption of innocence does not exist for priests” under the Catholic Church’s policy.

“Let me be clear, sexual abuse is wrong and I realize that the Catholic Church has a long history of not dealing with accusations and has spent a number of years putting strong policies in place, but I have said countless times I believe the current policy is wrong and unfair to the accused priest,” he said.

Pfleger is an outspoken political and social figure in Chicago and has routinely organized around gun violence prevention efforts and against Trump administration policies, among many other causes.

Pfleger was ordained in 1975 and became pastor of St. Sabina Church in Auburn Gresham six years later. He has remained in the role since then.