So might Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago, say about the Rev. Michael Pfleger, who has associated himself with Sen. Barack Obama's campaign for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Whispers in the Loggia, probably the pre-eminent Roman Catholic blogger in the United States if not the world, has
a long story and comment on the situation. It boils down to Cardinal George asking Father Pfleger to take a short (3 week) leave of absence to reflect on the controversy and how to dampen it down. Pfleger is a long-time activist in the poor neighbourhood of Chicago in which he works, and is a self-admitted thorn in the side of every archbishop of Chicago he meets. But the key to the mystery is this: he has been pastor of St. Sabina's Parish since 1981. That's 27 years, folks.
People may say that term-limits for priests serving in parishes (and I do not exclude Anglican parishes from this) are unfair. However, having a priest serve in one parish for 27 years is unhealthy for the priest, unhealthy for the parish, and can cause a lot of upset in the diocese.
Fr. Pfleger is only 57 years old, He has 18 years of active service in the ministry before he must retire. He should move to another parish and concentrate on helping his new flock to become closer to God. His current parish is rumbling about protests against his leaving. He should quickly ask people to accept that he will not be there forever and to help him and his successor, rather than become angry about a possible reassignment.
There may be trouble ahead...
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phornax