U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois. / Credit: Public domain

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 24, 2025 / 18:08 pm (CNA).

Opposition is mounting against Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich’s decision to honor U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, with a “lifetime achievement award” for his work surrounding immigration policy despite his long pro-abortion voting record. 

Following Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois’ denunciation of the decision, additional bishops have followed suit in speaking out against the upcoming ceremony honoring Durbin, scheduled to take place in November. 

Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is among those criticizing Cupich’s plan, writing: “The Archdiocese of Chicago’s plan to give [Durbin] a Catholic ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ is untenable.” 

“Works of justice & protecting life are not mutually exclusive but must be inclusive,” Ricken continued, adding: “I join [Paprocki] & [Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone] in urging [Cupich] to retract this award. Let us together pray & act consistently for life!” 

Ricken’s statement comes on the heels of similar remarks by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who spoke out against Cupich’s plan earlier this week. 

“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 wrote. 

“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 continued. “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.”

In a subsequent post, Cordileone added: “Imagine this: A prominent member of the U.S. Senate has a very strong record on defending the human dignity of life in the womb but also advocates for funding for Border Patrol agents to shoot people trying to enter the country illegally. Would anyone think it reasonable to honor such a senator for the senator’s pro-life record on abortion? No one who advocates for the direct, intentional killing of innocent human life should be honored. Period.”

“I pray for the good of the Church this award is not given to Senator Durbin and the scandal it will likely cause the faithful is avoided,” Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, chimed in on Tuesday, noting that he was also “shocked and bewildered” to learn of Cupich’s plan to honor Durbin. 

“The senator’s public record has been consistently pro-abortion and he has opposed any protections or safeguards for unborn children in the womb, even to the point of rejecting legislation to protect children who survive failed abortions,” Conley wrote. “That goes against the fundamental moral principles of the Catholic Church. It seems to me there is still time to reconsider this decision.”

Meanwhile, Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico, expressed his support for the position taken by Paprocki, thanking the Springfield bishop for his First Things op-ed in a social media post on Wednesday morning. Wall quoted St. John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium Vitae in a post linking to the article: “Man’s life comes from God; it is his gift, his image and imprint, a sharing in his breath of life. God therefore is the sole Lord of this life: Man cannot do with it as he wills.”

Cupich offered a defense of his decision in a Sept. 22 statement, writing: “I have remained faithful to the May 2021 instructions of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, advising bishops to ‘reach out to and engage in dialogue with Catholic politicians within their jurisdictions ... as a means of understanding the nature of their positions and their comprehension of Catholic teaching.’”

“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,” Cupich continued. 

Cupich emphasized that Durbin would be honored for his efforts to advance Catholic social teaching in immigration, care for 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,” he said.

Durbin has been prohibited from receiving the Eucharist in what has been previously reported as his home Diocese of Springfield, Illinois — the state capital — since 2004 due to his pro-abortion voting record. In his statement, Cupich claimed that Durbin had transferred to the Archdiocese of Chicago “some years ago.” 

Prominent pro-life leaders have also weighed in. Live Action President Lila Rose condemned the plan to award Durbin, writing: “This is shameful. The blood of innocent children cries out.”

Students for Life President Kristan Hawkins also addressed Cupich in a post on Tuesday, asking the Chicago cardinal: “If a politician had spent decades voting against laws to stop the live dismemberment of African Americans, Jews, or other minority group in America, would you still give him a lifetime achievement award … citing his ‘good’ votes on other issues?”

“I don’t think so,” she said, adding: “You are treating preborn children as less than full persons.”