Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, will participate on October 29 in a gala at which the archdiocese will present the Nostra Aetate award to businessman Michael J. Sacks, president and chief executive officer of GCM Grosvenor, who has donated $600,000 to fund initiatives aimed at facilitating access to abortion in Illinois.
The recognition will take place during the annual Seminary Salutes Rerum Novarum gala, organized by Mundelein Seminary, part of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, with the goal of raising funds for the formation of future priests. According to the official program of the event, Cupich and the seminary rector, John Kartje, will lead the ceremony, which will be held at the facilities of the IBEW Local 134 union in Chicago.
A businessman who funds access to abortion
Michael J. Sacks is an American billionaire with a distinguished career in the financial sector and close ties to the Democratic Party. In addition to leading GCM Grosvenor, he has participated in numerous business, political, and philanthropic initiatives in Chicago.
On September 29, Crain’s Chicago Business reported that Sacks had contributed $600,000 to an initiative aimed at strengthening the infrastructure for access to abortion in Illinois and offsetting federal cuts to funding for so-called reproductive health services.
Among the organizations benefiting from these initiatives are Planned Parenthood of Illinois and Chicago Abortion Fund, entities dedicated to facilitating access to abortion. The Prairie State Access Fund, launched with the participation of the Michael Reese Health Trust, announced in March of this year the distribution of its first million dollars in grants.
Despite these antecedents, Sacks is among the honorees of the Nostra Aetate award from the Archdiocese of Chicago, a distinction that will be presented during an evening dedicated precisely to supporting the formation of the diocese’s future priests.
The guidelines of the U.S. bishops
The archdiocese’s decision once again raises the guidelines approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2004 regarding awards granted by Catholic institutions.
In the document Catholics in Political Life, the bishops established that “the Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who take actions that contradict our fundamental moral principles,” nor grant them awards or distinctions that could be interpreted as an endorsement of their actions.
The Church’s teaching on abortion is unequivocal. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in number 2271, recalls that “since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion” and that this teaching “has not changed and remains unchangeable.”
The precedent of Dick Durbin
The awarding of the prize to Sacks comes a little over a year after another controversy involving Cardinal Cupich, when the Archdiocese of Chicago announced its intention to honor Democratic Senator Dick Durbin for his work on behalf of immigrants, despite his long-standing record of support for abortion.
The decision sparked a wave of criticism among U.S. bishops. Thomas Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, in whose diocese Durbin was barred from receiving Communion, publicly questioned the recognition. His criticisms were joined by Archbishops and Bishops Salvatore Cordileone, James Conley, and David Ricken, who urged Cupich to reconsider his decision.
The Archbishop of Chicago, however, defended the tribute to the senator and maintained that his record should also be valued for his work on behalf of immigrants. The controversy once again highlighted the close relationship between Cupich and Durbin, maintained for years in the political and institutional sphere of Illinois.
Ultimately, Durbin declined the award amid the controversy. The episode also reached the Vatican, where Leo XIV was asked by the press about the recognition. The Pontiff noted that the entirety of a politician’s record should be considered and recalled that the defense of life also encompasses other issues, such as the death penalty and the treatment of immigrants.
Now, a year after this controversy, the archdiocese is once again granting recognition to a figure linked to the promotion of abortion, this time during a gala intended to finance the formation of future priests.
Michael Sacks’s political ties
Sacks also maintains a long-standing relationship with prominent figures in the U.S. Democratic Party. He is part of former President Barack Obama’s political circle and has been linked to the Obama Foundation since its inception.
In 2012, together with his wife, he participated in raising more than $200,000 for Obama’s re-election campaign. He also chaired the Democratic National Convention held in Chicago in 2024 and served on the economic council of then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel from 2011 to 2019.
His relationship with Cardinal Cupich’s circle dates back at least to 2016, when he traveled to Rome as part of a Chicago delegation that attended the ceremony in which Pope Francis elevated Cupich to the cardinalate.
Ten years after that meeting, Sacks will receive recognition from the Archdiocese of Chicago during a gala dedicated to financing priestly formation, despite his financial contribution to initiatives that facilitate abortion.