Editor's Note -- Cardinal Francis George seems to be taking this Father Pfleger issue a lot more personal with his "Gotcha" decisions than what a conscious religious leader should be doing as a conscious and caring Cardinal should. First, he brought Father Pfleger to tears by nationally as well as internationally embarrassing Father Pfleger by allowing his suspension to be given to the press before it was discussed and given personally to Father Pfleger. Was it some sense of personal satisfaction for the Cardinal to sit back and wonder how Father Pfleger reacted to the barrage of local, national, and international media calls asking him to respond to a suspension that he didnt know had happened? Was it a proper for a "Cardinal" to make a major personnel decision in a way that he KNEW would humiliate a priest like Pfleger when he allowed his suspension announcement to be given to the media first? Now not even 24 hours later, the Cardinal delivers yet another humiliating "gotcha" blow to Father Pfleger by ordering a new priest to move in to St. Sabina with no advance notice to The St. Sabina staff !! The Cardinal did not take an action like this against Pfleger before, so WHY deliver another embarrassing blow to Pfleger and The St. Sabina Family and community??

 

I think I have the answer to this based upon a comment a White woman said to me during yesterdays demonstration in support of Father Pfleger at the residence of Cardinal George. She said that while The Cardinal may eventually decide to let Father Pfleger stay at St. Sabina, recognize the new leader that St. Sabina has identified to succeed Pfleger and expland Pfleger and St. Sabina to the Leo High School facilities, that you cannot deny George his chance to give Pfleger these "Gotcha" type hits and public embarrassment. "WHY?" Because she says "imagine what Cardinal George feels like each time he gets media calls to respond to the many media appearances of Pfleger talking about him, and so it is now the Cardinal's turn to flp the script and now make Pfleger have to wake up to media calls on decisions that he has made regarding Pfleger!! So the Cardinal has taken his high level position of leadership into a personal "Gotcha" state of pettiness.

 

So if that is the case, then now is the time to put this "gotcha" period to an end, sit down at a common table and make the proper decisions that will allow St. Sabina to continue with its leadership sucession plan, and then allow Father Pfleger to make the leadership transition to expand his leadership and ministry to rebuilding Leo High Schol and facilities as an extension of St Sabina. Thinking out loud, The Leo (St. Sabina) High School would be off to a great attendance start if the 8th Grade Graduates of St. Sabina Elementary School knew that they were going to be the Freshman Class of the new St. Sabina High School !!?? And from there there are so many community development projects and services that St. Sabina no longer has the room to add in its current facilities and could fit into the facilities of Leo and would add the rebuilding of the community. The Cardinal has succeeded with his humiliation of Father Pfleger and the pain he has also caused to The St. Sabina community, and now must shift back to his role as a conscious and caring Cardinal and making decsions that will help heal and help The St. Sabina community by accepting their strategic plan for leadership transition plan.