The Deacon's Bench
Nearly a year after a confrontation between the Rev. Michael Pfleger, an outspoken Chicago priest, and Cardinal Francis George, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Tuesday that Pfleger will take on administrative duties at a new parish while sharing responsibilities with a co-pastor at his longtime parish, St. Sabina.
Pfleger was named the temporary administrator of St. Margaret of Scotland Church at 99th and Throop streets, the archdiocese announced in a statement on its website. A new pastor for St. Margaret will be named July 1, and the Rev. Daniel J. Mallette will remain there as pastor emeritus, the archdiocese said.
Pfleger has also agreed to serve as the archdiocese’s representative for “newly developing anti-violence initiatives that will include a particular focus on issues surrounding gun violence,” the archdiocese said.
The Rev. Thulani D. Magwaza will become Pfleger’s co-pastor at St. Sabina. Magwaza is currently the parish’s associate pastor.
The archdiocese did not say whether Pfleger is being considered to eventually take over St. Margaret, which was established in 1874 to serve Catholic families in Washington Heights, then a suburb of Chicago.
Tension over Pfleger’s future has long simmered between the priest and the cardinal. Pfleger and his parishioners have resisted suggestions that he be assigned to another parish. He has been pastor at St. Sabina for nearly 30 years.
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