The talk shows and internet are all abuzz at Obama friend Father Michael Pfleger’s mocking of Hillary Clinton from the pulpit and raising questions about whether or not the Catholic Church condoned his behavior.  Well the answer is no as evidenced from this statement released today from Cardinal Francis George of the Chicago Archdiocese.

“The Catholic Church does not endorse political candidates.  Consequently, while a priest must speak to political issues that are also moral, he may not endorse candidates nor engage in partisan campaigning.

“Racial issues are both political and moral and are also highly charged. Words can be differently interpreted, but Fr. Pfleger’s remarks about Senator Clinton are both partisan and amount to a personal attack.  I regret that deeply.

“To avoid months of turmoil in the church, Fr. Pfleger has promised me that he will not enter into campaigning, will not publicly mention any candidate by name and will abide by the discipline common to all catholic priests.”

I am wondering though if Cardinal George isn’t getting a little weary of having to remind Father Pfleger to stay out of politics. On May 26, 2007 Pfleger attended an anti-gun rallly where he told the crowd that “We’re going to snuff out John Riggio,” and “We’re going to snuff out legislators that are voting against our gun laws.”

That prompted Cardinal George to issue a rebuke by saying that  ”Publicly delivering a threat against anyone’s life betrays the civil order and is morally outrageous, especially if this threat came from a priest.”

According to Associatedcontent.com Father Pfleger maintains that he did not know that “snuff” had meant ” kill”, and that the reporters and police that were present at the rally did not interpret his statements as a suggestion for murder. He explains that he was only talking about exposing gun shop owners and politicians that supported them.

Now I don’t mean to impugn the intelligence of a man of the cloth but how can a then 58-year old man claim that he didn’t know that the word “snuff” meant “kill?”

It remains to be seen whether or not Father Pfleger will actually follow through on his agreement with Cardinal George, but you can bet on one thing he will be watched very closely from this time on by more than just the Cardinal.

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