Jun 2, 2008 6:36 am US/Central
Pfleger Speaks After Obama's Split With Church
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Father Michael Pfleger addressed his congregation about the controversy surrounding his sermon for the first time, apologizing for comments that appeared to mock U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Pfleger spoke last Sunday, May 25, at Trinity United Church of Christ, about Clinton's tears before the New Hampshire primary.
What church to you think Sen. Obama should join?"I really don't believe it was put on. I always thought she felt 'This is mine. I'm Bill's wife. I'm white. And this is mine. I just got to get up and step into the plate,'" he said. "And then out of nowhere came, 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama.' And she said, 'Oh damn, where did you come from? I'm white. I'm entitled. There's a black man stealing my show.'"
Pfleger then proceeded to pretend to cry in a dramatization that included a handkerchief.
"She wasn't the only one crying. There was a whole lot of white people crying," he said.
On Sunday, speaking to his own congregation for the first time since the sermon at Trinity, Pfleger apologized for those comments.
"I apologize for anyone who was offended and thought it to be mockery. that was neither my intent not was it my heart," Pfleger said Sunday in his first sermon at his home church of St. Sabina since the controversial remarks at Trinity United Church of Christ.
The controversy was the last straw for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who severed all ties with Trinity, where he had been a member for more than twenty years.
Pfleger told St. Sabina's congregation that he's received more than 3,000 threatening emails – some calling for his death. The messages caused the church to beef up security for Sunday's services.
"YouTube and headlines and soundbites can now and have now become an instrument that creates the story rather than tells the story," said St. Sabina Church's Father Michael Pfleger.
Pfleger sounded off giving a sermon entitled "Beyond YouTube," chiding the media and the Web site, saying the clip of his sermon at Trinity United Church of Christ did not convey the meaning of his message.
"If you are not willing to withhold judgment until you gather information, then you are never going to know the real story," he said.
Sunday's mass had all of the singing and dancing of a normal Sunday mass at St. Sabina, plus Father Pfleger's first talk with his congregation since the debated sermon hit the Web.
"I apologize for the words that I chose. I apologize for my dramatization that was for many who do not know me simply typical dramatics that I use all the time in sermons," Pfleger said.
And even before hearing those words, parishioners CBS 2 talked to say they're fully supporting their pastor.
"I'm with him, what he said, 100 percent," said parishioner Erma Sims said.
"I'm standing with my pastor. Because I love him and he's truthful," said parishioner Gladys Haynes.
Father Pfleger told those listening he's unsure of what the future holds for him right now. He's already been in talks with Cardinal Francis George on that subject. He acknowledged the hatred that he says surrounds him right now and also recognized what he called his own imperfections.
Father Pfleger also said that the last few days have been more painful than the murder of his foster son. In addition to the sermon controversy, he says he had surgery last week and was supposed to stay in bed. Pfleger told the crowd he's not racist or sexist and called on the nation to deal with those biases.
CBS 2's Pamela Jones and Joanie Lum contributed to this report.
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