CHICAGO (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Blase Cupich, the heterodox archbishop of Chicago, reinstated leftist Father Michael Pfleger as the senior pastor of St. Sabina Church on the South Side last week after a review board said that there was “no reason” to believe that the priest was guilty of his 10th accusation of sexual abuse.
In an August 24 statement, Cupich announced that Fr. Pfleger, who has a long history of contradicting Catholic teaching on homosexuality, female “ordination,” the papacy, and endorsing pro-abortion and leftist politicians, has been cleared of a July allegation of sexual abuse involving a minor that dates back over 30 years, following the investigation of an “independent review board.”
Since 2021, the priest has been accused of sexual abuse five times before being cleared and allowed to resume his heterodox “ministry” following an inquiry.
“As to this case, the Review Board has concluded there is no reason to believe Father Pfleger is guilty of this allegation. After careful consideration I have accepted their conclusion and have reinstated Father Pfleger to ministry at St. Sabina, effective immediately,” Cupich wrote in the statement.
In January 2021, Pfleger was accused of sexually abusing two brothers years earlier when they were minors, leading him to be asked to step down. Just two months later, in March 2021, another man came forward accusing the priest of abusing him back in the 1970s as well. However, Pfleger was quickly reinstated about two months after the third allegation was made, after the archdiocese similarly determined that there was “insufficient reason” to suspect he was guilty of the allegations.
A little over a year later, in the fall of 2022, the priest was suspended from ministry again over new allegations of sexual abuse but was reinstated before Christmas after the review board cleared him.
READ: Cardinal Cupich’s Archdiocese of Chicago suggests all people who kill themselves are saved
As noted by the Lepanto Institute in a series of X posts, Pfleger has also blatantly contradicted Catholic teaching several times over the years, notably pushing for the “ordination” of women to the priesthood, a “woman pope,” and an end to priestly celibacy.
In this video, he called for women priests, women bishops, and even suggested a woman pope: https://t.co/4TTJ6Qf7WH
— Lepanto Institute (@LepantoInst) September 1, 2026
In another clip, the priest declared that he “didn’t need a pope.”
In this video, Fr. Pfleger claimed he didn’t need a pope: https://t.co/ryruV35nLF
— Lepanto Institute (@LepantoInst) September 1, 2026
Pfleger also has a long history of promoting pro-abortion politicians and public figures. The priest became one of the most high-profile Catholic supporters of pro-abortion presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2007, praising him as “the best thing to come across the political scene since Bobby Kennedy.”
For his open advocacy on behalf of the future president, the late Cardinal Francis George, then-archbishop of Chicago, sanctioned the priest, requiring him to take a “temporary leave of absence” to “contemplate his controversial remarks,” which violated the “discipline common to all Catholic priests.”
Pfleger has also handed over the pulpit at St. Sabina to several pro-abortion figures over the years, such as singer Harry Belafonte, who criticized former president George W. Bush for threatening a “woman’s right to abortion,” as well as former pro-abortion Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton.
The priest is additionally known for presiding over Masses rife with liturgical abuses.
In 2011, Cdl. George suspended Pfleger again for combative remarks indicating that he would prefer to leave the Catholic Church rather than his parish, when the archdiocese planned to transition him to a new pastoral role at a nearby high school. After Pfleger apologized, George restored him to his parish.
More recently, during a June 2026 press conference at Chicago City Hall, just weeks before the latest abuse allegations against him surfaced, Pfleger told President Donald Trump to “shut up” and restore federal funding that would allegedly combat the city’s gun violence after the president discussed a particularly violent weekend in the Windy City that saw several people killed and many more wounded.
READ: Leftist Chicago priest tells Trump to ‘shut up’ about city’s deadly shooting crisis