CBS 2 Chicago wbbm7801059 670 The Score

Local

Pfleger Prepares For Transition At St. Sabina’s

View Comments
Father Michael Pfleger talks about his new role at St. Sabina and for the Archdiocese. (CBS)

Father Michael Pfleger talks about his new role at St. Sabina and for the Archdiocese. (CBS)

Jay Levine

Reporting Jay Levine

Don't Miss This
Don't Miss This

CHICAGO (CBS) — Beginning this weekend, Father Michael Pfleger will assume some new roles.

He’ll no longer be the sole pastor at his longtime parish, St. Sabina’s on the South Side. But he will be co-pastor, as previously announced.

And Pfleger will also be the citywide point-person for the Archdiocese of Chicago on issues involving guns, gangs and violence.

Pfleger talked with CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine Friday about the changes.

He’ll continue to celebrate Mass at St. Sabina, where he’s been for more than three decades. But he said he intends to take an even more proactive approach to a battle he’s waged for decades against street violence.

“This crime thing is not gonna be solved by police or cease fire, it’s gonna be solved by communities,” Pfleger said.

He has been to funerals like the one Mayor Emanuel attended Friday morning for a 13-year-old boy. He has reached out to grieving parents like the mother of a 7 year-old as the mayor did earlier this week.

“Do I cry sometimes? Man, I cry about once every other day. It hurts. when I stop hurting i need to quit,” Pfleger says.

So, he understands the mayor’s frustration.

“I see and I hear the anger and the passion. That’s good and that’s important, because we got to be angry at this, but now we gotta say what do we do to solve it?” Pfleger says.

Starting this Sunday — while still adding new pictures of young victims of violence to the display outside St. Sabina -– Father Pfleger will use his new position to take community involvement a giant step further.

“What I really want to do in the next one to two years, I really want to build a coalition of churches, synagogues and mosques,” he says. “We have an opportunity to train the people in our pews to become the army out there in the street.”

Pfleger is 63 and has two years until he can retire. But don’t bet on that happening. He says he plans dying with his boots on.

View Comments
  • http://travel2chicago.us/chicago-news-stories-forjun-30-2012/ Chicago News Stories for Jun 30 2012 : Travel tips, hotels, restaurants, jobs and news | Travel 2 Chicago

    [...] bomb and arson unit will take the entire stash to an undisclosed location and destroy it.Pfleger Prepares For Transition At St. Sabina’sMichael Pfleger says he intends to take an even more proactive approach to a battle he’s waged [...]

blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

RSS Most Popular News

Follow CBS Chicago

Like us on foursquare

RSS Contests & Promotions

  • Benjamin Moore Which Team Colors Matter Most? May 24, 2013
    Which Team Colors matter most to you? Either way, you could be a winner! Just sign up now for a chance to win $500 Depot Dollars to the Chicago Sports Depot to pick up some gear with your favorite team colors as they battle it out this week!
  • AVEENO® MEN’S “Building a Healthier Foundation” Sweepstakes May 21, 2013
    AVEENO® Men’s™ knows your family is your foundation. And to take good care of them, you need to take good care of yourself. Win a family day at the ballpark from AVEENO® Men’s™.
  • Join Hankook Tire To Reel In The Next Big Catch May 20, 2013
    Join Hankook tire to reel in the next great catch! Click here to go to www.TirePrize.com and enter for your chance to win the ultimate fishing excursion in Puerto Rico!
  • Meet Jim Rome On Set In Los Angeles May 20, 2013
    AutoZone and the Jim Rome Show are giving one winner and a guest a trip to meet Jim Rome in Los Angeles on the set of his Showtime television show! Enter for your chance to win!
WBBM Newsradio 780, Radio Stations & Broadcast Companies, Chicago, IL

Twitter Updates