https://townhall.com/tipsheet/amy-curtis/2025/10/01/dick-durbin-cupich-award-pope-leo-pro-life-vip-n2664286
"
here is where the Cardinal, and even Pope Leo, get it wrong.
Pope Leo commented on the situation, saying, "Someone who says I'm against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life. Someone who says I'm against abortion but I'm in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro-life."
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL, said giving the award to Durbin would be "scandalous." In a statement sent to Catholic publication
The Pillar, Paprocki said, "I was shocked to learn that the Archdiocese of Chicago plans to honor Senator Richard Durbin with a Lifetime Achievement Award."
Paprocki continued, "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..."
