Congratulating Rev. Dr. Michael L. Pfleger on His 40th Anniversary of the Priesthood

Floor Speech

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Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my congratulations to Rev. Dr. Michael Louis Pfleger, the Senior Pastor at Saint Sabina Church in Chicago on his 40th Anniversary of the priesthood. I am sincerely thankful for the forty years of his devotion to community service and endless effort in fighting social injustice.

Michael Louis Pfleger was ordained a Catholic Priest for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago on May 14, 1975 and since 1981 has been Pastor of the mostly African American Parish of Saint Sabina, a Catholic church in Chicago's Auburn Gresham Neighborhood. His uninterrupted tenure in just one neighborhood is normally unheard of in a diocese where Pastors usually serve for only six to twelve years. When he was appointed to his present position, at the age of 31, he became the youngest Pastor in Chicago Archdiocese. Under Pfleger's leadership, Saint Sabina has established an outstanding social service program including job programs, conflict resolution, Employment Resource Center, a Social Service Center, and also an elder home.

Father Pfleger has adopted three sons, and led efforts to curb drug and alcohol use, especially among teenagers. He has led protests of all kind, encourages people to register and vote, take positions on all kind of controversial issues, always on the side of the people. He has fought against the proliferation of hand guns and hold regular lecture series at Saint Sabina featuring individuals like Reverend Jesse Jackson, Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Dick Gregory, Minister Louis Farrakhan, Reverend Joseph Lowery, Harry Belafonte and others. He has called out disrespectful rappers, embraced salvation for prostitutes, defied the Cardinal and pushed for the Ordination of women as Priests. Michael Louis Pfleger, a man among men, a Priest among Priests, a force for good, a friend to humanity, my brother and a Servant of God.

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