Father Michael Pfleger removed St. Sabina parish

I'm sure the nation is watching the shocking developments in Washington, DC as Congress met to certify the electoral votes from the 2020 presidential race. Meanwhile here in Chicago another shocking development which was reported last night.

Rev. Michael Pfleger removed from St. Sabina for decades-old sexual abuse allegation https://t.co/KuT7Tja5Zr

— Sun-Times Breaking (@CSTbreaking) January 5, 2021

Allow me to embed from the Sun-Times:

Father Michael Pfleger, the longtime pastor at St. Sabina Church and one of the most prominent priests in Chicago, has been removed from the Auburn Gresham parish following revelations of a decades-old sexual abuse allegation against a minor.

Cardinal Blase Cupich announced “the difficult news” in a letter to the St. Sabina community Tuesday, saying he has “asked Father Pfleger to step aside from ministry following receipt by the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor more than 40 years ago.”

Cupich said Pfleger agreed to his request and will live away from the parish during the archdiocese’s investigation. The allegation has also been reported to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office, Cupich said.

Pfleger, 71, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening.

Pfleger is a longtime public figure on the south side in the nearby Auburn Gresham neighborhood and this isn't the first time he had been pulled aside from St. Sabina. It seems controversy follows him as his sermons also became known during the 2008 Presidential Race. I do hope that the allegations are proven unfounded as they are very incendiary involving child abuse.

Tiny houses for the homeless

Perhaps an idea whose time has come and the city council is talking about it:

The City Council held a hearing about tiny houses after powerful Southwest Side Ald. Edward Burke, 14th, introduced a resolution for the city to consider them. The homes measure about 160 square feet, and builders say they can be completed in less than two weeks.

Catholic Charities would like to put up seven tiny homes for homeless veterans on a couple of lots near 78th Street and Emerald Avenue in the Gresham neighborhood, said Eileen Higgins, a vice president for the organization.

The houses would be put up near an existing Catholic Charities campus with services for veterans. Higgins said building tiny houses is less expensive in most cases than renovating an existing house, and she added that veterans often prefer a much smaller place to live without the upkeep of bigger residences.

So far the development is just a proposal, and Higgins said the organization is looking into zoning issues at the site.

Anthony Simpkins, of the city planning department, said the city is also in the preliminary stages of considering whether it should build lots of little houses to increase affordable housing around Chicago.

"Can it be publicly financed? Should it be publicly financed?" Simpkins said. "Is it on city land? Is it not? What are the design elements? Are there wraparound services involved? We're sort of looking at all that stuff right now."

Now if you want to see what these tiny houses could involved, check out the video below by Reason. This was more done by an individual instead of the city and unfortunately there was some controversy that included taking away the houses because they were in city streets & sidewalks. I'm glad the city is looking into this and better still will place these houses in lots instead of on city streets and sidewalks. [VIDEO]

Englewood Good Friday Peace Walk

Occurred Friday afternoon starting at St. Benedict located at 340 W 66th Street. R.A.G.E. shared some pictures on their instagram profile. This is with Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich.

Great turn out today for the #PeaceWalkChi in Englewood! #EnglewoodRising

A post shared by R.A.G.E. (@rage_englewood) on Apr 14, 2017 at 11:32am PDT

UPDATE 10:36 PM - Forgot to add this tweet from ABC 7's Stacy Baca

The #PeaceWalkCHI today in Englewood. pic.twitter.com/7mP4Mjn1ZI

— Stacey Baca (@StaceyBacaABC7) April 14, 2017

AP: Cardinal Cupich to lead Walk for Peace through Englewood

via @cardinalbcupich

This is certainly good publicity for the Englewood neighborhood via AP:

CHICAGO - The Archbishop of Chicago will lead a Walk for Peace through the Englewood neighborhood on Good Friday.

Cardinal Blase Cupich has invited Chicagoans to join him in tracing the Stations of the Cross and pausing along the way to remember the victims of violence. Pope Francis pledged to accompany participants in prayer as he walks the Way of the Cross in Rome's Colosseum that day.

A statement from the archdiocese says the walk has been organized as an opportunity for people to come together and demonstrate the power of peace through prayer in the wake of continued violence in the city.

The walk will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday in front of St. Benedict the African Church .

Such a short article and helped me break my rule regarding copying whole articles.

Either way to have a Catholic Cardinal or a Chicago Archbishop come to your community to take an interest in the issues of violence is big news. Hopefully with this publicity things change, and at least for Englewood they are in a steady fashion. I hope this results in plenty of press coverage.

St. Benedict is at 340 W 66th Street.

Does Chatham/Park Manor Want to Save St. Dorothy Parish

A group of alumni, church members and residents came out to the Whitney Young Library to say YES.

A group of alumni including Keith Tate, President of Chatham Avalon Park Community Council (CAPCC) who is an alumnus and member of the steering committee  to save St. Dorothy School chaired the meeting.  Residents and neighbors including Ms. Darlene Tribue, President of Park Manor Neighbors Community Council (PMNCC), a St. Dorothy alumna, came out to hear what is going on with St. Dorothy Elementary School as well as what the future is for the parish.

Several weeks ago, the Chicago Archdiocese announced that they were closing nine elementary schools around the city of Chicago as well as create a new school Augustus Tolton. Tolton  would be a new school created from the merger of St. Dorothy and St. Columbanus. The archdiocese reason for the merger was both schools have operating deficits as well as declining enrollment The new school would be housed in the former St. Columbanus school building and the future of the St. Dorothy building was in question.

The announcement came as a surprise to the students, parents and church members of both St. Dorothy and Columbanus. Per responses from parents they were informed via a flyer just before the official announcement and church members were notified just before the announcement via an announcement in church. The announcements just prior to the official announcement is the start of frustration for the parties affected.

Per St. Dorothy members, parents and alumni this decision was done under  a veil of secrecy and the reasons given for the merger are not true. They felt disrespected by the Archdiocese and the pastor of St. Dorothy, Father Bob Miller especially as the parish is planning to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2016 and they were given assurances that the school was in no danger of being closed.

Per Keith Tate he and a committee were actively raising funds for capital improvements and other operational needs of the school.  He was assured that the fundraising would be viewed positively and assure that the school would not be up for consideration for closing.

Since the announcement, there have been meetings for parents of the school and anyone else who has attempted to attend  has been asked to leave the meetings. Request for financial information have gone unanswered with no reasons given. Overall, all attempts to gather any information to create a starting point to assist have been dwarfed.

During the meeting it was brought out that consultants were hired to assist the school but  when request for what they cost and what they actually did were made again no answers.

The following letter was sent to the archdiocese

Re: Request to Postpone Closure of St. Dorothy School
Founded 1917
Dear Reverend Archbishop-Designate Cupric:
We would like to extend a warm welcome to the windy city of Chicago. Cardinal George served the Archdiocese of Chicago with passion for many years and we wish him much favor as he leaves this office. We are a diverse group of interested parishioners and alumni of St. Dorothy Parish and school who are here to listen, dialog and participate in supporting and enhancing the Church and its missions.
Your transition to the city comes at a critical time in Chicago’s Southside community. Unanticipated and unexpected decisions are being/have been made resulting in the impending closure/merger, of the St. Dorothy School located on the south side of Chicago. Despite how characterized, a vacant school building is a closure and a painful loss to a community struggling to recover.
Throughout its nearly one hundred-year existence, the St. Dorothy School prepared students for excellence. Their accomplishments in many cases dwarf the accomplishments of others not tethered with financial and social impediments. St. Dorothy alumni include former and current executive directors, vice presidents, attorneys, executive managers, IT professions, doctors, political consultants, teachers and the like. This is a legacy we believe is worth saving and more importantly we believe with notice, information and welcomed participation the impending closure of the St. Dorothy School could have been avoided.
We were strongly cautioned that appeal of this decision would be of no effect, our efforts in vain, that there would be no redemption. We are however hopeful and faithful that this communication does have decidedly redemptive value. We seek your intervention, leadership and grace in preserving an institution that has been a haven and opportunity for survival. We also need leadership to remedy an ever-widening chasm of perspectives. At the very heart of our most immediate concern is preserving the nearly one hundred-year legacy of the St. Dorothy School, a Catholic institution of primary education founded in excellence and service to a deserving parish. Unfortunately the closure of this once revered flagship institution has been decided without a modicum of information, appropriate notice or reasonable opportunity to overcome the challenges to the viability of St. Dorothy.
The St. Dorothy community has a history of triumph when given proper notice and opportunity to engage in problem resolution. We do not believe we were given that opportunity. Our voices were not timely sought, heard or understood and as a result the St. Dorothy School did not have an advocate. We request that immediate remedial action is taken preventing closure pending an audience and a comprehensive review of the importance of the St. Dorothy School to the parish and the community. This community needs a path to self-reliance, not another vacant building, not another testament to hopelessness or track to the criminal justice system.
We are equally mystified by the total disenfranchisement of the parish community in the making of this monumental decision. We are also shocked and taken aback by the loss of foresight to make this issue a priority and a known crisis. The general information provided was that the parish would have up to three years to address the concerns of the school. It was not until September 2014 that the parishioners, parents, resource committee and representatives from the Archdiocese were brought together. The topic was the future of St. Dorothy School, however, at no point in this meeting was it communicated that closure was imminent. One month later it was announced that the school would close. After the decision, it was clear that the steps taken were perfunctory measures to make the process appear inclusive, but it was not.
We understand that reasonable minds may differ as to the most effective way to build a strong continued Catholic presence in the community. It is this difference that encourages us to bring our concerns forward. It is now time to rebuild, to reinvest in communities that have had many blessing but also have had many disadvantages. We encourage the Church to be bold in its mission by creating more opportunities for spiritual growth. We believe that this cannot be done with school closures; rather, it can be accomplished by expanding the Church’s presence through re-committing to these institutions of learning. “Give me a fish, I will eat for a day, teach me to fish and I will eat for a lifetime.” Anonymous
There is much information we have to share about our ideas for rebuilding our Church’s presence in the community. We thank you for your consideration and are hopeful for an audience with you. If you have any questions or need additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours in Christ,
St. Dorothy Concerned Alumni and Community to Prevent Closure of a Historically African-American Institution

 As of the writing of this post, there has been no response from the archdiocese.

The steering committee and alumni are passionate about saving the school because they believe that once the  school closes the closing of the parish is imminent. They state examples of the former Mercy/Unity, Mendel, and other catholics school and properties on the southside that have been sold to developers or Chicago Public Schools

The group has more meetings planned to inform the community on their plans as well as there are meetings going on at St. Columbanus to discuss the vision of the new school Augustus Tolton.

Since the announcement what have been visibly absent is a unified community response from residents of Park Manor/Chatham or any of the numerous community based organizations. This leads to the question does the community want to save St. Dorothy?

Earlier this year, representatives from Concepts Charter attempted to sell the community that their  Clay Evans campus was going to be the savior for the children of Chatham. They even had one community organization, West Chesterfield Community Association issue a letter of support. When questioned about their ties to Turkish extremist they became hostile and called individuals "Racist" for asking questions. Subsequently, the campus was nixed and Concepts was raided by the FBI. But with all of that some were ready to give away some of our public schools to this group that has no track record of achievement and no african american teachers.

Secondly, the charter school network has made it clear that they are actively looking to make additional inroads into the community. They took advantage of the gift Gary Comer made to the Grand Crossing community and established Gary Comer High School. Also, the Alternative School Network in conjunction with Chicago Public Schools has been actively pursuing closed schools to place Alternative Schools or schools of last resort.

Lastly, while public schools in Chatham/Park Manor were saved from the last round of closures several were  included on preliminary list.

So where do we stand on education? What is the future of St. Dorothy?

Strausberg: Pfleger says no one shot or wounded last night is proof ‘We can do this’ #putthegunsdown

Fr. Michael Pfleger

An interesting account written by Chinta Strausberg for those events connected with #PutTheGunsDown from last Friday. Here's hoping everyone had a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend.

2 shot at gang funeral: 'This is crazy'

This shooting is more disturbing than most as it happened during a funeral, near a church. The presiding minister for the funeral was Pastor Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church. He is the pastor who made national news by camping out on the roof of an abandoned motel, and was abel to purchase and demolish it through that campaign.

The following is from the Chicago Tribune's news blog: Chicago Breaking News.

2 shot at gang funeral: 'This is crazy'

An Open Letter to the Community about St. Clotilde School

St. Clotilde Catholic Church at 8430 S. Calumet has recently caused a community stir by housing an altnertive school that started this year, without the community knowing about it.

Here is the link from Aldereman Sawyer's office: An Open Letter to the Community about St. Clotilde School

And the letter...

Dear Community,


In recent weeks there has been legitimate concern in the community about a new school that has moved into St. Clotilde on the 8400 Block of South Calumet. I have reached out to the church, school and community leaders to do an investigation into this project, and I am writing this letter to provide you with some information about how this school came to our community.


For those who are unfamiliar, it is the Richard Milbourn School, an “Alternative Safe” educational facility that accepts students from the 6-12th grades. An Alternative Safe school is a school for students who have been expelled from their primary school, but have not yet exhausted their options for returning to their home school. This facility keeps these students anywhere between 45 days and 2 years. The school had approximately 35 students when I met with the Administrator on September 12th, and can potentially house as many as 115 students. The middle school aged students are bused to and from the school and the high school age students must take public transportation to get to the school. Security officials are posted at the bus stops in the morning and afternoon, escorting students to and from school. The Administrator understands the concerns of the neighborhood, and the school administration seems well meaning in their attempts to mitigate issues in the community.


My concern, however, is in the process that was used to bring the school into the area. This school was placed in this building by the administration of St. Clotilde and the Chicago Public Schools without any consultation with the neighbors or with my office. This is disrespectful to the community and shows a complete lack of regard for the legitimate concerns of a neighborhood to opening this school in a residential neighborhood. This is not an attempt to demonize children who have made a mistake; however, there are legitimate questions about filling what was traditionally an elementary school with high school aged students. There are legitimate concerns about having teenagers take public transportation to a school that is multiple blocks from most sources of public transportation. The process that was used in installing this school ignored all of those legitimate concerns in the neighborhood.


I hope that this is not indicative of the level of cooperation we can expect from the Emanuel and Brizard administrations. I want to be partners in improving both our schools and our children, but that requires collaboration with teachers, parents, government and the community. I am asking my Chatham neighbors to keep an eye out on this school and let us know if they are being good neighbors. I would also encourage those who want to assist the school in their goal of placing these students on the right path to visit the school and offer your assistance. They have pledged to maintain an open door policy and work with the community, and I intend to hold them to that vow. The city had a poor process for placing the school in our neighborhood, but we will not allow the school to remain in our neighborhood if it actually results in problems in our community, and for that, you are my eyes and ears.


Sincerely,


The Honorable Roderick T. Sawyer
Alderman, 6th Ward

The school has been turned over at least twice (St. Clotilde had their own school. When i moved ito the neighborhood a couple of years ago, there was New Way Christian School, which since folded). As I have walked by the church several times, I have noted just how empty and inactive it is, though having a block to work with (including a huge parking lot). I can see how desperate the church may be to have some income to maintain the property. What was the church like in its "glory days", and what happened to the people who enlivened it then?

St. Benedict the African Church: Modernism's late entry--or first sign of its comeback?

St. Benedict the African Church: Modernism's late entry--or first sign of its comeback?

Lee Bey o a uniquely designed Catholic church located @ 340 W. 66th Street. There is both commentary and photographs by Bey himself.

St. Dorothy Catholic Church

I was walking by St. Dorothy Catholic church and snapped these phots. What struck me was how "un-Catholic" it sounded...or at least an adapted Catholicism like the Faith Community of St. Sabinas.

What struck me on the signs:

• Healing Services (like a Pentecostal church)
• Liturgical Dance (not what you think of when you say Catholic)
• Faith Community (rather than parish)
• "Black Jesus"

I am certainly not criticizing these things.  Rather, I think these things are great. But it makes me interested to find out mor eabout the churhc, and how they relate to not only the Chatham community, but especially other Christian churches.

Does anyone have any other information or stories about the church?

We would love to hear them!