Chicago's Cardinal Cupich defends decision to award pro-abortion Sen. Durbin

After the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity announced it would be presenting a lifetime achievement award to pro-abortion U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), two bishops have spoken out against it — and Cardinal Blase Cupich is defending his decision.

Key Takeaways:

• Senator Dick Durbin held some pro-life positions early in his career, but quickly embraced pro-abortion advocacy.

• His pro-abortion zeal is so extreme that he has been barred from receiving communion by his own bishop.

• Despite this, the Archdiocese of Chicago is presenting Durbin with a lifetime achievement award, citing his advocacy for immigrants.

• Two bishops have criticized the award, but Cupich claims Durbin has not violated Catholic teachings on a consistent life ethic.

The Details:

Last week, the Archdiocese of Chicago announced Durbin will receive a lifetime achievement award, despite his decades of pro-abortion activism in the Senate.

Durbin voted against numerous pro-life measures, even opposing a ban on the violent D&X ('partial-birth') abortion procedure and  protections for pain-capable preborn children from abortion. He even opposed a bill that would require abortion survivors to be given life-saving care, just like any other infant.

Durbin also has perpetuated falsehoods about late-term abortions as a means of keeping it legal, and is in favor of forcing taxpayers to fund abortion. He also released a statement condemning the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Due to all of this, Durbin has been barred from receiving Holy Communion by his bishop, which was upheld as recently as 2018. And that bishop is furious now.

Go Deeper:

The Pillar reported that Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Durbin's home diocese, said the decision to present Durbin with the award is scandalous. Paprocki said:

"I was shocked to learn that the Archdiocese of Chicago plans to honor Senator Richard Durbin with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Given Senator Durbin’s long and consistent record of supporting legal abortion — including opposing legislation to protect children who survive failed abortions — this decision risks causing grave scandal, confusing the faithful about the Church’s unequivocal teaching on the sanctity of human life.

Honoring a public figure who has actively worked to expand and entrench the right to end innocent human life in the womb undermines the very concept of human dignity and solidarity that the award purports to uphold."

Paprocki further noted that the decision violates the Archdiocese of Chicago's own policy, which bans “awards or honors” to “individuals or organizations whose public position is in opposition to the fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church.”

The policy manual states:

Many organizations and presenters that do ‘good work’ in some areas are misguided in others, particularly in the areas of human life and sexuality. In the past some honorees, speakers or organizations presenting at gatherings for Catholic organizations have publicly advocated viewpoints that are in opposition to the faith, causing confusion and division within the Church.

Paprocki also pointed to a statement from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), saying, “Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, who barred Nancy Pelosi from receiving Holy Communion for her pro-abortion activism, also publicly urged Cupich to rescind the award.

Yet in a statement, Cupich refused to budge, and claimed he has authority over Durbin, not Paprocki:

"Senator Durbin informed me some years ago that he had purchased a condo in Chicago, registered in a parish of the archdiocese and considers me to be his bishop.

At the heart of the consistent ethic of life is the recognition that Catholic teaching on life and dignity cannot be reduced to a single issue, even an issue as important as abortion. 

The annual celebration of immigrants, Keep Hope Alive, will recognize all the critically important contributions Senator Durbin has taken to advance Catholic social teaching in the areas of immigration, the care of the poor, Laudato Si', and world peace.

The recognition of his defense of immigrants at this moment, when they are subjected to terror and harm, is not something to be regretted, but a reflection that the Lord stands profoundly with both immigrants who are in danger and those who work to protect them."

Why It Matters:

While Durbin's advocacy on behalf of immigrants may very well be laudable, that doesn't outweigh his clear status as a politician who has fought in favor of more deaths for the innocent. And it also doesn't counteract Church teachings on abortion.

The Catholic Church is staunchly pro-life, teaching that there is an intrinsic right to life from fertilization through natural death. To award a public figure who stands openly and solidly in opposition to this is, indeed, scandalous.

As the Catechism has taught:

Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.

There are also numerous instances to be found in the Bible calling for the protection of human life and acknowledging the humanity of preborn children. The Didache, the Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles, is one of the earliest known Christian documents, and it also speaks against abortion, writing, "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill a child once born.”

The Bottom Line:

Cupich is, as Paprocki pointed out, courting serious scandal by giving Durbin this award. As his own archdiocese stated, good work in one area cannot excuse working for evil in another.