{"id":13894,"date":"2025-10-01T01:31:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T01:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/pope-leo-speaks-up-on-dick-durbins-behalf-amid-abortion-rift\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T01:31:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T01:31:51","slug":"pope-leo-speaks-up-on-dick-durbins-behalf-amid-abortion-rift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/pope-leo-speaks-up-on-dick-durbins-behalf-amid-abortion-rift\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo speaks up on Dick Durbin\u2019s behalf amid abortion rift"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Leo XIV made a direct foray into U.S. politics Tuesday, offering measured support for the Chicago Archdiocese\u2019s plan to honor Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who supports abortion rights, with a \u201clifetime achievement award\u201d for his work on immigration policy.<\/p>\n

The pope\u2019s comments to reporters<\/a> come as anti-abortion advocates are condemning Chicago Archbishop Blase Cupich and the archdiocese\u2019s immigration ministry for planning to give Durbin the award at a Nov. 3 event.<\/p>\n

After the pope\u2019s comments emerged Tuesday, Cupich issued a statement saying Durbin had \u201cdecided not to receive an award at our Keep Hope Alive celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I am saddened by this news, I respect his decision,\u201d the prelate said. \u201cBut I want to make clear that the decision to present him an award was specifically in recognition of his singular contribution to immigration reform and his unwavering support of immigrants, which is so needed in our day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who has denied the Eucharist to Durbin in his home diocese of Springfield, Ill., had said he was \u201cshocked\u201d that the senator was being honored, adding it would risk \u201ccausing grave scandal, confusing the faithful about the Church\u2019s unequivocal teaching on the sanctity of human life,\u201d according to The Pillar<\/a>, a website that focuses on the Catholic church.<\/p>\n

Nine other bishops have also spoken out against the planned award, claiming it was a betrayal of the church\u2019s teaching on abortion.<\/p>\n

But Leo, in remarks that appeared both careful and bold, urged Catholics not to view the senator \u2014 or any political figure \u2014 through a single-issue lens.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I\u2019m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,\u201d the pope, a Chicago-area native, told reporters, responding to a question from EWTN News.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the difficulty and the tensions,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it\u2019s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

More pointedly, the pope said, \u201cSomeone who says, \u2018I\u2019m against abortion,\u2019 but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life. Someone who says, \u2018I\u2019m against abortion but I\u2019m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,\u2019 I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s pro-life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durbin, who recently announced he wouldn\u2019t seek reelection in 2026, did not immediately return a request for comment. He is a long advocate for immigrants and an original co-author of the DREAM Act, legislation that would grant a path to legal status to undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors.<\/p>\n

Leo, who voted in Illinois as recently as last year, has endeared himself to Illinoisans as a homegrown hero who has spoken of his fondness for Chicago pizza and White Sox baseball.<\/p>\n

His words, which are guaranteed to prompt applause and anger, highlight the central tension within the church between theology and political partisanship.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo they are very complex issues and I don\u2019t know if anyone has all the truth on them,\u201d the pope continued, when asked about Durbin\u2019s critics. \u201cBut I would ask first and foremost that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings and in that case as American citizens and citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to be close to all of these ethical issues. And to find the way forward as a church. The church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Leo XIV made a direct foray into U.S. politics Tuesday, offering measured support for the Chicago Archdiocese\u2019s plan to honor Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who supports abortion rights, with a \u201clifetime achievement award\u201d for his work on immigration policy. The pope\u2019s comments to reporters come as anti-abortion advocates are condemning Chicago Archbishop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}