CARDINAL CUPICH ABSENT FROM MARCH IN MEMORY OF CHICAGO MURDER VICTIMS

Hundreds of people joined a December 31st march on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.  The event was  organized by Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of Saint Sabina Parish on the city's South Side, to remember those who died by gun violence in 2016.

The Chicago Police Department recorded 762 murders in 2016. Father Pfleger told the marchers there were nearly 800 crosses for them to carry.  Opening the march, Father Pfleger told the group that the violence will not end until everyone gets involved.

Father Pfleger told those gathered:  "This is not a West Side problem. This is not a South Side problem. This is a Chicago problem. The reason we're on Michigan Avenue (is) because this is a Chicago problem. And until everybody in Chicago decides it's a problem, we're not going to end it," he said.

The march proceeded in near silence, led by Father Pfleger and others, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson. They took turns reading the list of victims' names.

Father Don Nevins, St. Agnes of Bohemia pastor, said parishioners felt it was important to participate after hosting their own anti-violence march in November.  "It's not just a situation in the African-American community," Father Nevins said. "It's very much in the Hispanic community as well."

After the march, Father Pfleger said he was heartened by the response.  "Look at this group," he said. "It's black and white and brown. And it's going to take all of us to solve this."

One wonders why the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago was not present to grieve with the members of his flock over the senseless carnage that has befallen the citizens of Chicago.

One wonders why the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago has not taken a very public stance deploring the outrage that a city in America, that the diocese entrusted to his pastoral care, finds itself in such a state of horror and terror.

Pope Francis, in the elegance of the poetic metaphors he employs in preaching, has called upon Bishops to carry upon themselves “the smell of the sheep" they tend, to immerse themselves in the “squalor” of human sinfulness and to bring the light and hope of the Gospel to people where and how they live.

To do that, Bishops must accompany their flocks. They must be with them, among them, sharing their sorrows and their joys, listening to them, hearing their concerns and being an advocate for their welfare and security.

In this powerful moment of witness and empathy for all those who have suffered the loss of loved ones in the violent streets of presentday Chicago, Archbishop Cupich was nowhere to be found and had nothing to say.

We expect more from an Archbishop Pope Francis appointed, an Archbishop so many expect to shepherd his diocese with the same sympathetic and caring spirit of Francis himself.

The moment came to Archbishop Cupich but was lost.  Let us hope future such moments will not be so shamefully ignored by him as was this most moving and inspiring event.