The Rev. Michael Pfleger has been removed from his ministry at St. Sabina Church as the Archdiocese of Chicago investigates a claim of child sexual abuse from more than 30 years ago.
It’s the fifth decades-old accusation against the South Side priest in four years. Pfleger was cleared of the other accusations.
In a letter to parishioners Saturday, Cardinal Blase Cupich said the alleged abuse happened at St. Sabina Church more than 30 years ago. He said Pfleger “strongly denied” the accusation.
In a written statement, Pfleger called the allegation, “an absolute lie.”
Pfleger said he was informed of the accusation Thursday by the vicar of priests and told the accuser is a woman who went to school at St. Sabina and that she said she was sexually abused by Pfleger sometime between 1993 and 1995, when she was a minor.
Pfleger said the accusation is “another attack by those who have sought to destroy me for years and another attempt by someone to get money from the archdiocese and to silence me.
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NOTE: This is the fifth known allegation of sexual misconduct made against Father Pfleger in the past five years:
- 2021: Two brothers separately alleged they were sexually abused by Pfleger as minors in the 1970s.
- 2021: A third man alleged Pfleger sexually assaulted him in 1979 when he was 18 years old.
- 2022: A fourth accuser alleged he was abused as a minor in the late 1980s while participating in the Soul Children of Chicago Choir at St. Sabina.
- 2026: A woman now alleges she was sexually abused between 1993 and 1995 while attending school at St. Sabina.