Michael Louis Pfleger (born May 22, 1949) is an American Catholic priest and social activist located in Chicago. Since 1981, he has been pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church, a Black parish in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood.
He has been the subject of a number of controversies, mostly involving his public comments and activities.
Pfleger has also been the subject of multiple sex abuse allegations, including three in 2021 and one in 2022 which were found to be unsubstantiated by the Archdiocese of Chicago. Another allegation was made in 2026.
Biography Background
A German American"Religion & Ethics: Black Catholics". PBS. Retrieved July 8, 2007. from the South Side of Chicago, Pfleger attended Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, Loyola University and the University of Saint Mary of the Lake. He was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago on May 14, 1975.
Parish ministry Since 1981, he has been pastor of the mostly African American parish of Saint Sabina, a Catholic church in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood. His uninterrupted tenure in just one parish is normally unheard of in a diocese where pastors usually serve for only six to twelve years. When he was appointed to his present position, at age 31, he became the youngest pastor in the Chicago archdiocese. Under his leadership, Saint Sabina has established an Employment Resource Center, a Social Service Center and also an Elders home. In May 2025, at the insistence of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination with an all-day event that included a gun turn-in and gunlock giveway, the distribution of 400 boxes of free food, and an afternoon carnival for kids.
Social activism
Pfleger's social activism has brought him media coverage throughout Chicago and beyond. He has often collaborated and associated with African American religious, political and social activists such as Jeremiah Wright, Joseph Lowery, Jesse Jackson, Harry Belafonte, Cornel West and Louis Farrakhan.
Anti-drug campaigns Under Pfleger's leadership, the community of St. Sabina demanded the shutdown of a number of Auburn Gresham businesses specializing in drug paraphernalia. His parish also campaigned for the removal of tobacco and alcohol billboards from their neighborhood. When billboard owners refused to cooperate in the early 1990s, he and others decided to climb ladders and deface the signs. He was charged with destruction of private property, but was acquitted by a jury in 1991.
In September 1997, the Chicago City Council voted 44–1 to eliminate tobacco and alcohol billboards from selected areas in Chicago. Pfleger described the decision as "a tremendous victory for the children of Chicago, for our neighborhoods, especially black and Hispanic neighborhoods."Fran Spielman. "Billboard blitz in Chicago." Chicago-Sun Times. September 11, 1997.
Jerry Springer and Howard Stern Pfleger has become one of the best known critics of The Jerry Springer Show, a controversial television program which was videotaped in Chicago. Believing the program to be immoral, he and his parishioners began picketing outside the show's studios in 1991. By 1998, he had organized a boycott of the show's advertisers. "[Springer is] glorifying violence every day.... Calling a woman a ho and a bitch is sick. This is not normal behavior", he declared. The show's producers eventually claimed that they would attempt to decrease the number of on-stage fights on the program.
Pfleger later targeted radio personality Howard Stern in response to Stern's late 2005 advertising campaign to promote his move to satellite radio. Pfleger specifically objected to a pair of Stern's billboards in Chicago that featured an image of the black power salute with the caption "Let freedom ring. And let it be rung by a stripper", a parody of a line in Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech. Pfleger told the media, "As we prepare to celebrate Dr. King's birthday, we will not tolerate this kind of disrespect. We should not have to tolerate it in our communities." Viacom, the owner of the billboards, eventually removed the signs due to the protests.
Pfleger received criticism from Stern's fans, who questioned Pfleger's commitment to freedom of speech. Jesse Jackson came to Pfleger's defense, saying, "There are two freedoms at issue here. They have the right to advertise, and we have the right to resist it in our community. Sometimes freedom is challenged by a community's tolerance level. I think Father Pfleger is a man of great dignity and has an acute social conscience. And he deserves our support."
Outreach to sex workers In 2000, Pfleger received international attention for encouraging his parishioners to buy time from prostitutes as a means of inviting the women to counseling and job training.Ernest Tucker. "Church outreach creates buzz." Chicago Sun-Times. March 30, 2000; retrieved July 8, 2007.
The Chicago Archdiocese largely distanced itself from Pfleger's activities, to which he responded, "How is what I'm doing not part of the gospel? The church leaders talk about evangelization. Well, if this isn't evangelization, I don't know what is." Saint Sabina raised several thousand dollars for his program, attracting many donors from outside their parish. St. Sabina has used similar methods to reach out to drug dealers.Dirk Johnson. "A Priest Pays Prostitutes for Time, Offers Them an Escape", The New York Times, April 12, 2000. pg. A18
Southside Catholic Conference controversy In 2001, Pfleger fired racism accusations towards a mostly-white primary school athletic league, the Southside Catholic Conference, after they refused to admit Saint Sabina's parish school. The league claimed that visiting teams and parents would be unsafe in Saint Sabina's neighborhood. He responded, "Racism continues to be alive and well both inside society and inside the church. To be denied admission on the sole premise that certain coaches and parishes feared for the safety of their children is illegitimate, ridiculous, and insulting. It is very troubling that the conference would insinuate that we would place their children in harm's way." Chicago's Cardinal Francis George eventually pressured the league to reverse its decision.
Billboards against disrespectful rappers In 2007, Pfleger and his Saint Sabina parishioners erected twenty billboards across Chicago with the words "Stop Listening To Trash", followed by a list of "disrespectful rappers", which included Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, Nelly, 50 Cent, G-Unit, Twista, Snoop Dogg and Ludacris. Pfleger said in a press release, "If we are going to end the violence and disrespect of women, we must fight every form of negativity, including the music industry." He explained to WMAQ-TV's Alex Perez, "When you disrespect women and you continue to demean a community or race by names and by language, that's unacceptable. ... We can kill with our words.""Church's Billboards Target 'Degrading' Rappers". NBC-5 News. June 19, 2007. Retrieved on April 2, 2008.
Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright On March 28, 2008, Pfleger invited Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of then-U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama, to deliver a blessing at Saint Sabina during a visit by poet Maya Angelou. Wright had been criticized by Obama, academics and political pundits on the left and right for several controversial sermons, but Pfleger came to Wright's defense. "I wanted him to come here so he could see that people really stand with him and support him while he's under all this attack. America, unfortunately, has been really cheated of knowing the real Dr. Wright," said Pfleger.Rev. Jeremiah Wright delivers blessing at Chicago Catholic church. Catholic News Agency. March 31, 2008; retrieved April 2, 2008.
In a statement on Saint Sabina's website, Pfleger wrote, "Dr. Wright is one of the great biblical scholars of our country and the best of preachers in the prophetic tradition. Dr. Wright has been shamefully demonized by 30 second sound bites that have tried to re-define him into someone other than who he is."Statement by Rev. Michael L. Pfleger on Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright's Visit to the Church on March 28, 2008; retrieved April 2, 2008.
Controversy Al Sharpton In February 2003, Pfleger generated controversy by inviting Al Sharpton to speak at a Mass during Black History Month celebrations. Cardinal Francis George disapproved of Sharpton's appearance, due to Sharpton's pro-choice stance on abortion. Since Sharpton was a presidential candidate at the time, archdiocese officials were concerned that having a political candidate speak in church would cause them to lose their tax exemption. However, George decided that trying to stop Sharpton from coming "would be a futile gesture and a waste of effort".Cathleen Falsani. "Sharpton's St. Sabina Visit Upsets Cardinal", Chicago Sun-Times, February 8, 2003.
Of his disagreements with George, Pfleger once said, "I can only assume the Cardinal sees my style of ministry to be something he doesn't agree with. In that sense, he sees me as a thorn. That's what I'm left to feel like. I don't revel in that. In fact, it's very difficult. It's a very difficult feeling [being] on the fringe, getting public reprimands, public criticisms. I don't enjoy that at all. [But] my focus right now is to try to continue building up the Church. A lot of what we do is [considered] out of the ordinary. That kind of puzzles me. It's not the Church I grew up in. The Church then was very involved in justice and civil rights issues."Ron Csillag. "Chicago's renegade priest – Father Michael Pfleger tackles booze, drugs and violence in an effort to clean up the South Side". Toronto Star, November 8, 2003. pg. L16.
Gun control advocacy
Chuck's Gun Shop campaign In 2007, Pfleger and Jesse Jackson led a campaign protesting against Chuck's Gun Shop & Range. According to the Americans for Gun Safety Foundation, Chuck's Gun Shop & Range had sold over 2,000 weapons that were traced to crimes committed between 1996 and 2004. During one protest, Pfleger and Jackson were arrested by Riverdale police for blocking the entrance to the store. Both were later released without charge.Lindsay Kishter. "Protest again takes aim at Riverdale gun shop", Chicago Tribune, June 30, 2007.
In May 2007, during a Rainbow/PUSH Coalition protest outside Chuck's Gun Shop & Range, Pfleger was accused of threatening the life of the owner, John Riggio. The Illinois State Rifle Association released a tape where Pfleger was heard telling the assembled crowd, "He's the owner of Chuck's. John Riggio. R-i-g-g-i-o. We're going to find you and snuff you out… You know you're going to hide like a rat. You're going to hide but like a rat we're going to catch you and pull you out." Pfleger later claimed his use of the phrase "snuff you out" had been misinterpreted.
Cardinal George rebuked Pfleger, saying, "Publicly delivering a threat against anyone's life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest." Pfleger claimed that he did not intend to use the word "snuff" as a slang term for "kill", but rather as a substitute for "pull", as he used later in his statement.Susan Hogan. "Cardinal rebukes Pfleger for 'threat'", Chicago Sun-Times, June 8, 2007.
Unlicensed armed bodyguard On May 27, 2018, Eugene Hale, a member of Pfleger's security detail was arrested outside St. Sabina when officers noticed him brandishing a pistol. Upon investigation, the officers discovered that Hale did not possess a concealed carry license and was not legally licensed to carry a weapon in public nor to own the weapon as he did not possess Firearm Owner's Identification (FOID).Armed member of 'Pfleger's security' arrested outside his church.
Controversy during 2008 presidential election