Obama Ally Father Michael Pfleger Removed from Chicago Ministry Pending Sexual Abuse Investigation

Father Michael Pfleger, a left-wing and partisan Democrat Catholic priest, was removed from his role heading Saint Sabina Church in Chicago, IL, on Tuesday, following revelations of allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor over 40 years ago.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, addressed Pfleger’s departure in a letter to Saint Sabina’s congregation:

I write to share some difficult news about your senior pastor, Father Michael Pfleger. In keeping with our child protection policies, I have asked Father Pfleger to step aside from ministry following receipt by the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor more than 40 years ago.

Cupich’s letter did not identify the sex of the allegedly abused minor or provide any details of the alleged abuse.

Pfleger, now 71, has a record of left-wing and partisan Democrat advocacy and associations.

Pfleger endorsed and donated to former President Barack Obama’s first campaign for the Illinois Senate in 1995. His support for the 44th president was included as part of Obama’s first presidential campaign.

Obama credited Pfleger with having helped shape his “moral compass” while describing the priest as a “dear friend.”

Pfleger regularly advocates against Second Amendment rights in the context of murders in Chicago. He has derided America as pathologized by “racism.”

Publicity photos of Pfleger shared on Saint Sabina’s website feature photographs of the priest attending leftist events, including one of him wearing a “BLACK LIVES MATTER” t-shirt and another of him speaking at a rally against firearms ownership.

Pfleger’s political associations and allies include former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Jesse Jackson, and Nation of Islam figurehead Louis Farrakhan.

“I don’t think there is any group or religion in America that has done more for the African-American male than the Nation of Islam. I feel the real problem is, America doesn’t know how to handle Louis Farrakhan or the truth,” Pfleger told the New York Times in 1994.

In 2008, Pfleger invited Louis Farrakhan to speak at an “anti-violence rally” in Chicago. He invited Farrakhan to speak at Saint Sabina in 2019.

Pfleger continually advances left-wing and partisan Democrat narratives via his Twitter account:

News media outlets such as the Chicago Sun-Times, ABC, and NBC did not acknowledge Pfleger’s politics in their reporting on the priest’s departure.