Cardinal Francis George, speaking publicly for the first time on Rev. Michael Pfleger’s tenure at St. Sabina, said that denying the pastor a fourth six-year term is not a reprimand but a recognition that church policies permit no “pastors for life.”
“If every time a priest did an extraordinarily fine job we didn’t move him, we wouldn’t move a lot of priests,” said George, who maintains that no pastor is indispensable to his parishioners. “The Archdiocese of Chicago would not be irreparably damaged if I dropped dead right now, and that’s true for most of us.”
Speaking after Ash Wednesday mass at Holy Name Cathedral, George said Pfleger will remain pastor during discussions about a suitable replacement and a new assignment for the popular priest. He would not commit to a specific time frame but said “that may take years.”
Earlier this week, Pfleger said publicly that the cardinal would not allow him to stay at St. Sabina, sparking an uproar among his loyal parishioners and influential supporters.
On Wednesday, Pfleger said the tenure issue should be less about personalities than relationships.
“Anybody is dispensable,” he said later in the day at a South Side fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Vallas. “What I’m saying is that in the African-American community when we see what’s working, it’s been longevity of relationship between pastors and people to build places and establish them in the community where there’s been neglect and abandonment.
“I understand the rules,” Pfleger said. “But let’s not let the rules become a hindrance to service.”
Archdiocesan policy limits pastors to two 6-year terms in one parish. George would not say how many of the archdiocese’s more than 300 pastors are either close to the end of their 12-year limit or an added third-term.
Pfleger himself was granted a third term under the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin. And another beloved pastor, Rev. Jack Wall of Old St. Patrick’s, has reached the end of a third term.
Failure to allow Pfleger a fourth term, the cardinal said, is not a punishment, given that he is a priest in good standing. “If he were a renegade priest, we wouldn’t be having a conversation,” George said.
More Top Picks Best Smartwatches
Term limits were initially instituted in the 1970s as a reform in archdioceses such as Boston and Chicago, according to Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of the Catholic weekly America.
“Those were the days you’d have a parish with three or four associates and a pastor who presided over them all,” Reese said. “The old guard was locked in place, and there was no way of getting them out. The idea was to put in term limits so some of the younger clergy would have a chance to be pastors before they were 50.”
But as a priest shortage developed, Reese noted, the dynamics quickly changed. Priests who were forced to run parishes single-handedly saw the downside of being transferred in six to 12 years.
“Some people are slow starters. Just as they got warmed up it was time to move,” he said. “Some parishes had problems with whiplash: A liberal pastor would be followed by Attila the Hun who wanted to re-establish martial law. Every reform has a downside.”
Chicago priests are by no means unanimous in their assessment of term limits. Some pastors may like the idea of limits as a way of preventing strong personalities from building fiefdoms, while others may think they force effective pastors to leave when they are doing their best work.
Even priests who back limits tend to like the idea of extensions under special conditions–when continuity is needed in communities that have experienced excessive turnover, when there is no suitable replacement, or when an important project has yet to be completed.
Rev. Robert McLaughlin, a former member of the personnel board that addressed term limits under both Bernardin and George, does not know of any Chicago priests whom George has given new six-year terms after 12 years in a parish.
But McLaughlin, who was recently transferred from Holy Name Cathedral, said the cardinal has “extended terms for a couple of years if he felt he had a good reason … or until a successor has been appointed.” Priests on the verge of retiring at 70 are usually allowed to stay until then.
Rev. William Kenneally has been at St. Gertrude for 18 years.
“I’m 66 and I have not been approached,” he said. “I assume they are going to let me drift on to senility.”
George would not discuss Pfleger’s statement to his parishioners Tuesday that he would consider starting his own church if asked to transfer from St. Sabina.
The cardinal also said he isn’t worried about alienating parishioners who might leave the church if Pfleger and other popular clergy members are transferred.
“People don’t stay in church because of priests and ministers,” he said. “They stay in the Catholic Church because of Jesus Christ and because they have the faith.”