Two new bishops join the call to Cardinal Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, to desist from awarding the “lifetime achievement award” to Senator Durbin, scheduled for next November 3 at the “Keep Hope Alive” event.
The Bishop David Ricken, of Green Bay (Wisconsin), described the decision as “unsustainable” and recalled that justice and the protection of life “are not exclusive, but inseparable”. In a message on the social network X, he cited the commandment “you shall not kill” (Ex 20,13) and explicitly asked Cupich to retract.
For his part, the Bishop James Conley of Lincoln (Nebraska) also publicly joined the rejection, increasing the pressure on the Archbishop of Chicago. Both prelates reiterated that awarding a “human dignity” award to a politician who has promoted the elimination of innocent lives in the womb is a contradiction.
A wave of episcopal criticisms
These pronouncements add to those of the Bishop Thomas Paprocki, of Springfield (Illinois), who warned that Cupich’s decision “risks causing grave scandal and confusion among the faithful”, and of the Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, who called on Catholics to denounce the “grave evil” of abortion.
The episcopal opposition underscores that Durbin’s legislative record is radically incompatible with the Catholic faith. The senator has supported abortion in all its forms, voting against laws seeking to protect children born after failed abortion attempts and promoting initiatives to expand the legality of abortion even after the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade.
Cupich stands firm
Despite the growing wave of criticism, Cupich has insisted that the award does not reduce to a single issue, defending that human life and dignity must be understood in a broad framework that includes support for immigrants, care for the poor, and the defense of integral ecology.
Nevertheless, this approach relativizes the commandment not to kill and dilutes the Church’s central teaching on the sanctity of life from conception. The tension increases as the date of the event approaches in which Durbin would receive the recognition.
Source: LifeSiteNews