When a man spends decades championing abortion, voting against life, and pushing policies that go directly against the Catholic Church’s teachings, you wouldn’t expect him to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Church. But welcome to 2025, where up is down, wrong is right, and apparently, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago thinks it’s a good idea to honor Senator Dick Durbin—a man who has repeatedly stood against the sanctity of life—with a Catholic award.
Senator Durbin (D-IL) has one of the most radical pro-abortion voting records in the U.S. Senate. He has voted for abortions up until birth. He’s opposed common-sense legislation that would protect babies who survive botched abortions. And he’s been so deeply out of step with Catholic teaching that his own local bishop in Springfield, Illinois, Bishop Thomas Paprocki, barred him from receiving Holy Communion back in 2004. That’s not just a slap on the wrist—it’s the Church saying, “You are not in communion with our faith.”
So why on earth is Cardinal Cupich giving this man a Lifetime Achievement Award? Has the meaning of the word “achievement” become so twisted that now promoting the killing of the unborn is something to be celebrated?
Cupich defends the decision by saying that Durbin has done good work on immigration. That’s like giving someone a humanitarian award because they donated to a food bank—while ignoring the fact that they set a house on fire. Immigration ministry is important, but it does not cancel out decades of voting for the destruction of innocent human life.
Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, said it best: “Cardinal Cupich could promote peace and unity by withdrawing the invitation to Senator Durbin.” And he’s not alone. Olson is the seventh bishop to publicly oppose this scandalous award. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, and others have all spoken out. The message is loud and clear: this decision is a betrayal of truth.
Bishop Ricken put it in plain terms: “Abortion violates ‘Thou shalt not kill.’” That’s not complicated. That’s not political. That’s moral clarity. And it’s what the Church is supposed to be about.
Yet Cardinal Cupich shrugs it off and tells us this is about a “consistent ethic of life.” In his eyes, standing up for immigrants and the environment somehow excuses supporting the killing of unborn children. This is moral relativism at its worst. There is no justice without life. You can’t build a house of dignity on a foundation of death.
Let’s be honest—this isn’t just a bad decision. It’s a scandal. A deep wound to faithful Catholics who believe the Church should be a voice for the voiceless. It sends a message that you can spend your whole career undermining God’s commandments and still get a pat on the back from Church leadership.
That’s not unity. That’s confusion. And it’s the kind of confusion that drives people away from the faith.
Thankfully, there are still bishops with courage. Bishop Paprocki calls this out for what it is: a danger to the Church’s witness and a contradiction of everything the Church teaches about life.
It’s time for Catholics to speak up. Contact Cardinal Cupich. Tell him this award must be withdrawn. Our Church must stand with the unborn, not the politicians who betray them.
The faithful deserve better. The unborn deserve better. And the truth deserves to be honored, not buried beneath political games.