Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, is planning at an event scheduled for Nov. 3 to give Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) a "Lifetime Achievement Award, for his work with immigrants."

Several other Catholic bishops, however, have spoken out against Cardinal Cupich's plan, citing Durbin's record on abortion.

"I was shocked to learn that the Archbishop of Chicago, Blase Cardinal Cupich, plans to bestow a lifetime achievement award on Sen. Richard Durbin through the archdiocese's office of human dignity and solidarity," Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, wrote in First Things.

"Sen. Durbin's appalling record on the foundational issue of unborn human life renders him unfit to receive the proposed award or any Catholic honor," he said.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco attached Bishop Paprocki's First Things article to a posting on X.

"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," Archbishop Cordileone wrote in this posting. "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."

Several other bishops also issued statements joining Bishop Paprocki in opposing the award to Durbin. Among them, as reported by The Pillar, were........

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