Two Catholic bishops are publicly condemning a Chicago cardinal’s plan to honor Sen. Dick Durbin, a pro-abortion Democrat from Illinois, with a lifetime achievement award.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, head of the Archdiocese of Chicago, intends to present Durbin the award at the “Keep Hope Alive” Benefit on Nov. 3. Durbin, a self-identified Catholic, has long championed abortion, including casting votes against legislation protecting infants born alive after failed abortions.
“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,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Durbin’s home diocese, said in a statement to The Pillar on Sept. 19.
“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,” the bishop said.
The Illinois Democrat, who is retiring at the end of his term in 2026, voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, which prohibited late-term abortion procedures, and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would have mandated care for babies born alive during failed abortions. His voting record earned him a score of “F” from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
The bishop added that Durbin, who has been barred from receiving communion in the Springfield Diocese since 2004 for his pro-abortion stance, “should not be celebrated by the Church.”
“This decision not only contradicts the Church’s moral doctrine but also sows confusion about the seriousness of abortion and the integrity of Catholic witness in public life,” Paprocki said. “I urge Cardinal Cupich to reconsider this action for the sake of clarity, unity, and fidelity to the Gospel of Life.”
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who barred self-professed Catholic Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion in 2022 due to her stance on abortion, came to Paprocki’s defense.
“I stand in solidarity with Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, in urging Cardinal Cupich to reconsider giving Senator Durbin a Lifetime Achievement Award through the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity given his long record of supporting legal abortion,” Cordileone posted on X on Sept. 21.
“Bishop Paprocki, who is Senator Dick Durbin’s bishop, has expressed shock that the Archdiocese plans to honor Senator Durbin who, although a self-professed Catholic, supports access to abortion so radically that he has even opposed legislation to protect babies born after an attempted abortion,” Cordileone added. “Bishop Paprocki is correct that both clarity and unity are at risk. I hope this will be a clarion call to all members of the Body of Christ to speak out to make clear the grave evil that is the taking of innocent human life.”
Neither the offices of Durbin nor Cupich responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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