The Archdiocese of Chicago has responded to the outrageous comments by Fr. Michael Plfeger in which he said a gun shop owner and some legislators should be “snuffed”. Now, we all know that the jargon of the street says that “snuffed” means killed, but the context of how he used is clear that he meant something like “removed from public influence” or “had their livelihood stripped away.” That doesn’t mitigate the senselessness and irresponsibility of the words, especially since they could be misconstrued by an unbalanced individual, nor does it mitigate Plfeger’s consorting with hatemongers and racists like Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan.
In any case here is the archdiocese’s relatively mild statement:
On Saturday, May 26, 2007, during an anti-gun rally at a Riverdale gun shop, Fr. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina parish, reportedly made aggressive and inappropriate statements threatening the store’s owner.
If the comments reported are accurate, and a threat was made, it is up to the civil authorities to investigate the matter and determine what if any action should be taken against Fr. Pfleger.
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago, stated, “publicly delivering a threat against anyone’s life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest. It is first of all up to the civil authorities to determine what threat might have been contained in the remarks attributed to Fr. Michael Pfleger. With that determination, the sponsors of the anti-gun rally and the Archdiocese can better decide how to respond.”
I’m not sure why the archdiocese needs to wait for the civil authorities to investigate before it can take action. Pfleger is a Catholic priest. His words are clearly documented. His previous heterodox and syncretist and publicly disobedient actions give clear cause for the cardinal to act. But as someone pointed out in an email to me, given the state the Church in Chicago is in—with the amount of heterodoxy among the clergy—that any kind of public statement from the archdiocese that is willing to acknowledge that a priest has crossed the line is a big step.
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Pfleger is even quoted on Sen. Obama’s official site as supporting him. Sen. Obama who voted against the born alive infant protection act is surely the most pro-abortion Senator. But I guess Pfleger has no problem with “snuffing” out babies.
His Eminence, Francis Cardinal George, God bless him, has some wonderful pastoral qualities. However, leadership and fortitude are underrepresented in his list of virtues. The Cardinal needs to consider whether the office of Archbishop of Chicago is also that of the official Chaplaincy of the Democratic Party or whether he is a consecrated shepherd of the Lord who must, when needed, discipline his wayward sheep—Fr. Pfleger being often out of the pasture.
The disciplining also must come from his Eminence and not an Archdiocesan spokesman, not matter how connected this guy might be to the temporal powers of the governing class.