Yet another loss

Photographing on the far South Side of Chicago the other day, I heard the report of a building collapse not too far away. In my younger days I would have made a beeline for the incident, especially equipped with my camera gear. Today, a bit older, wiser, and perhaps a little lazier, I avoided the area as the radio reports suggested I do.

I had a picture in my mind's eye about the building. I imagined it being your typical Chicago two or three story brick storefront, abandoned and boarded up like thousands of others in this city. Four passersby were injured in the accident and thankfully I believe they are all on the road to recovery. Reports later said that that the city had issued an immediate demolition order to prevent further injury. As these things go, I forgot about the incident until this morning when I saw this post from Lee Bay's excellent Chicago architecture blog.

It turns out the building was not your typical brick storefront but a very fine example of Chicago's dwindling collection of lavish terra cotta commercial buildings. It had indeed been abandoned for years and as you can see from a photograph on Lee Bay's post, proof of the neglect (and the inevitability of nature taking over when people let go), there was a small tree growing on the roof.

It also turns out that the building was on Preservation Chicago's orange list of endangered buildings.

Now it is off the list.

You might ask who was the deadbeat landlord who allowed such a beautiful building to get to that condition? It was the none other than the City of Chicago. The city took over the building, hoping to find a buyer about ten years ago in an attempt to revitalize the area. There were no takers and you see the result.

The building was at 79th and Halsted, a once flourishing intersection in the neighborhood of Auburn-Gresham. I wrote about that neighborhood a couple times on this blog, once about the renegade priest Father Michael Pflager, the pastor of St. Sabina Parish. Another post was about St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Church, known to its parishioners as Little Flower. That church closed and the building was purchased by another congregation and is now the Greater Mount Hebron Baptist Church.

As I pointed out in that post, the neighborhood which is predominantly African American, is also by and large middle class, struggling to be sure in this economy, but far from destitute.

We can point our fingers all we want but this unfortunate incident is just another example of the reality of once vibrant commercial streets all over the city. I wish I had a practical suggestion about how to change that, let alone a solution, but alas I don't.

If I did I'd run for mayor, or better still, king.

The Little Flower

I've written in this space before about sense of place in Chicago and how many Chicagoans identified their neighborhoods with the local Catholic parish, even if they were not Catholic themselves. I've also written about my great aunt, Gertrude, who lived for years not in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood as far as she was concerned, but in St. Sabina's. Her older sister Lillian a few blocks away, also lived in the same community on the south side, but in reality she lived in the parish of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus or as everybody called it, Little Flower, after the term of endearment given to the nineteenth century saint for whom the church was named.

Little Flower, like St. Sabina's, was one of the major parishes for the South Side Irish community. Unlike its neighbor about a mile to the east which would become a tremendously successful African American parish under the guidance of the Reverend Michael Pfleger, Little Flower struggled as the neighborhood changed, and closed its doors in 1993, a part of the major purge of struggling Catholic churches in the Chicago Archdiocese under the administration of Joseph Cardinal Bernadin. Here is a Tribune article from November 22, 1993 which contrasts the celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Archdiocese of Chicago with the final mass at Little Flower.

The article notes that for the first time in a long time, Little Flower was filled to capacity as several former parishioners came back for one last look at their old church, while current parishioners wondered where they would be worshiping in the future. I imagine it was one of the few times in the church's history when the sanctuary was truly integrated. One of the current parishioners noted that if the people who came back that day never left in the first place, the church wouldn't have needed to close.

I was in fact a little surprised to read that folks actually came back to Little Flower from the suburbs, so great is the fear of many whites to return to the old neighborhood which had become predominantly black, even for just a visit. There was an incident a while back involving St. Sabina's that illustrates the situation. Fr. Pfleger wanted his school to join a predominantly white south side Catholic sports league. Many white folks, parents of children in the league, were aghast, no way were they going to risk driving themselves and their children back into the city, to "that neighborhood." The league originally voted 11-9 against admitting St. Sabina's. It was an embarrassing moment for Catholic Chicago, especially coming as it did on the heels of a letter from Cardinal Francis George on the need to close the racial divide. The league later voted a second time and overturned their original vote but the damage was done. Here is an impassioned view on the subject from Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Perry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and here is a much more scathing attack from the site BlackElectorate.com. Please note in the latter link, a very insightful letter from former Chicago Bear and St. Sabina member, Chris Zorich.

The phenomenon of neighborhoods radically changing population almost overnight, has been going on in this town since the beginning. According to U. S. Census data, the population shift in the community of Auburn-Gresham was especially dramatic. In 1960, the community's population was 100 percent white. By 1970, the population was 31 percent white, 69 percent black, and by 1980, the population was 99 percent black.

The changeover usually begins when a black family moves into a neighborhood. The first to go are the virulent racists who are so filled with fear and hatred that not in a million years would they consider living on the same block as a black family. They pass their venom on to anyone willing to listen. Panic sets in and the situation snowballs. Here in Chicago, other nefarious factors play into the mix. Unscrupulous realtors played on these fears. They approached home owners unawares by phone or even a knock on the door, offering the friendly and helpful advice to get the hell out.

"I've got a nice house for you in neighborhood X or suburb Y where it's safe for you and your kids. Get out now before you lose any more value on your house."

This was not an idle threat. Adding to the problem were the lending institutions who literally drew red lines on maps around neighborhoods they deemed undesirable, and green lines around the desirable ones. Desirability was always based on income and more often than not, on race. It was the green-lined neighborhoods, namely newer, suburban, and predominantly white, that received the lion's share of loans and other financial services, while the red-lined, poorer and predominantly black urban neighborhoods were pretty much left out in the desert. Without help from the banks for new investment, there was little hope for the communities within those red lines to maintain themselves and develop, and not surprisingly many of them deteriorated quickly. From the Encyclopedia of Chicago, here is an article on the practice of redlining in Chicago.

It would be easy to make a blanket condemnation of white people picking up stakes and leaving their neighborhood based on the threat of change. We'd like to think, as that parishioner sitting in Little Flower during its last mass: "If only those people had stayed..."

Yet, next to our children, the biggest investment most of us have is our home. As much as we all would like to be community minded, the bottom line is that most of us need to look out for ourselves and our families first. "Get out before it's too late and you lose your investment..." may not be the most altruistic or public-spirited advice, but one certainly cannot say that it is not prudent.

In the case of Auburn-Gresham however, contrary to a common misconception, census data also shows that while the population shifted almost 100 percent in 20 years, other factors such as income levels, average years of education, and age breakdown indicate that Auburn-Gresham has remained as it has been since its beginnings, a solidly middle class community. As you can see in the photograph, Little Flower has been successfully transformed into a church of another denomination.

Still we cannot force people where to live or with whom to associate. I'm reminded of my own church's now defunct alternative mass in the school lunchroom whose attendance did not reflect in any way the demographics of our parish. The whole community was invited to join the mass but its attendance was virtually all white. For their part, for whatever reason the lunchroom crowd is very unhappy about the termination of their mass, and their being brought back into the church proper. You can draw your own conclusions.

The question is, how can we live together in our communities if we cannot even integrate a church, where we all have a common interest and theoretically all of us are equal?

All I can say is this: St. Theresa the Little Flower, pray for us.

Fightin' Father Pfleger

These days, folks who live within the sound of the bells of the church at Racine and 78th Place on the South Side of Chicago refer to their community as Auburn-Gresham. My late Aunt Gertrude, (who has appeared in this space on numerous occasions, mostly on St. Patrick's Day), spent a great many of her 101 years in that neighborhood, but I'm sure the words "Auburn-Gresham" never crossed her lips. No, she lived in "St. Sabina's". The same goes for her best friend Ruth, several years her junior, who unlike Gert, was not a Catholic, but also came from "St. Sabina's".

Today in Chicago, and perhaps all over the world, the name St. Sabina's is far more well known than the name of the community it represents. That is entirely thanks to the man who has been its pastor for the last thirty years, Father Michael Pfleger.

Father Pfleger has been a tremendous force for good, not only at St. Sabina's parish, but in the entire community of Auburn-Gresham and beyond. As an activist, his has been a strong voice against many of the social ills that affect both the community and society at large; gangs, drugs, guns, violence, illicit sex, disrespect for women, racism, just to name a few. Not limiting his activism to the pulpit, Father Pfleger has taken cues from predecessors such as the Berrigan brothers. Like the anti-war priests that proceeded him, he has taken his activism into the streets, participating in acts of civil disobedience that has at least once landed him behind bars.

No stranger to publicity, for his efforts Pfleger has become something of a folk hero, (or villain depending on your point of view), in and around St. Sabina's and for that matter, the entire Chicago area.

Father Pfleger has also built up a strong Roman Catholic faith community within the largely non-Catholic African American community of Chicago. In a part of the city where Catholic churches are often taken over by other congregations, or shuttered and demolished, St. Sabina parish has flourished. It has sought and received little if any financial help from the Archdiocese of Chicago, and its finances remain in the black, even during difficult economic times. My own church on the other side of town cannot say the same about itself.

Given all of Pfleger's accomplishments, why one might ask, would Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago and spiritual leader of Chicago's 2.3 million Catholics, have his sights set on removing Father Pfleger from his post as pastor of St. Sabina's? Cynics would argue that the Archbishop is simply trying to use his power to silence a renegade priest who has often publicly expressed dissent with many of the expressed positions of the Church.

While it's true that the Cardinal has openly declared Father Pfleger at times to be a thorn in his side, he has also expressed praise and admiration for Pfleger's hard work and dedication to the faith and to his community. The fact is, over the past thirty years, every Catholic parish in Chicago, except one, has had to deal with the reassignment of at least one pastor, most likely more. While not nearly as well known as Father Pfleger, many of these men were just as vital, important and beloved to their parishes. Priests, including pastors, typically sign on for a 6 year stint at a given church, those who are pastors may have the option to sign on for another six years. That's it, twelve years at a parish and then it's time to go. That is, with the exception of Father Pfleger.

Many parishioners develop close relationships with their priests, and as I have experienced many times over, it can be difficult to say goodbye. The twelve year rule may seem to be arbitrary and unfair, but the cult of personality that develops around a popular priest can be problematic when that priest becomes the sole representative of the Church for his parishioners. By enforcing the rule, the Church is stating unequivocally that we Catholics are followers of Christ, and not of a particular priest.

The strong reaction against the Cardinal's decision to reassign Pfleger, by the parishioners of St. Sabina's and Father Pfleger himself, illustrate the Church's concern rather clearly. Pfleger has publicly stated that he may choose to leave the Roman Catholic Church, and implicitly stated that he'd take many of his congregation with him if the Cardinal persists in his actions. Which begs the question, do his parishioners see themselves first and foremost as Christians and Catholics, or Pflegerites?

By his actions, Pfleger has inadvertently made himself the poster child for support of the twelve year rule.

For his part, I believe the Cardinal has shown remarkable restraint and patience in his dealings with Father Pfleger. After all, Cardinal George was installed as Archbishop fourteen years ago, four years past Pfleger's twelfth anniversary as pastor of St. Sabina's, if my math is correct. He could have reassigned Pfleger from the get go had he chosen to do so. During the Cardinal's tenure in Chicago, he has had to publicly reign in Pfleger for several egregious comments made by the pastor. Once he threatened to "snuff out" a gun shop owner. Another was a well publicized racial diatribe against Hillary Clinton during her campaign for the Democratic nomination for president. The candidate Pfleger supported, Barack Obama, had to distance himself from Pfleger and his divisive words. Father Pfleger later apologized for both comments.

As it stands now, the Cardinal has only recommended that Father Pfleger step down at St. Sabina's to become the president of Leo High School which is steps away from the church. The new post would allow Pfleger to remain in the neighborhood, be free to continue his activities, and on occasion at least, celebrate mass at St. Sabina's. Yet Pfleger and his parishioners continue to protest what seems to be a very reasonable compromise.

Pfleger made his comments about possibly leaving the Catholic Church on NPR's Tavis Smiley program. You can hear a snippet of that interview here. In response, the Cardinal has suspended Pfleger from his role as pastor for an unspecified period of time. I'll let the Cardinal speak for himself. Here in PDF form is Cardinal George's letter to Father Pfleger, telling him of the suspension.

To the parishioners of St. Sabina's I would say this. I have great compassion for your cause. Father Pfleger has been a beacon of light in a troubled world. He has brought hope, inspiration and along with it, much needed development into your community. While it is very difficult to lose a beloved priest, it doesn't sound like he'll ever be very fay away. But it is very important to understand that in the Catholic faith at least, the Church does not belong to the Pope, Archbishop or the Parish Priest, all of whom will one day leave. It belongs to God. All of us as believers, black or white, are members of St. Sabina on the far South Side and members of St. Margaret Mary on the far North Side. Whether we're African, Asian, or European, American or Australian, we all belong to the Body of Christ. And as members of one body, we need each other. You are in my thoughts and my prayers.

Finally to Father Pfleger I would add this, if he cares to listen. You have fought many gallant battles against all odds against terrible causes of evil in our community. More often than not, you have won, and for that we owe you a debt of gratitude. That is your legacy. It is better to build than to tear apart as you no doubt know and we are all stronger when we are together than when we are apart. Some battles are worth fighting. Respectfully, this one is not. May God bless and keep you.


POST SCRIPT...

At the end of May, Cardinal George reinstated at least temporarily, Father Pfleger as the pastor of St. Sabina parish. The controversial priest has agreed to work out a transition plan for sometime in the future. You can read more about it here.

It sounds like everybody wins.