Chicago archbishop’s decision to honor US senator stirs Catholic abortion debate

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A Catholic bishop’s opposition to the Archdiocese of Chicago’s plans to honor Sen. Dick Durbin despite the powerful politician’s support of abortion rights has revived a decades-old struggle between church teaching and political reality.

Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago announced last week that the archdiocese will present a lifetime achievement award to the high-ranking Catholic Democrat for his work helping immigrants at a Nov. 3 fundraiser for the archdiocese’s immigration ministry.

The plans were announced as President Donald Trump’s administration maintains a surge of immigration enforcement in the Chicago area that federal officials said Friday has resulted in at least 550 arrests.

But it’s the five-term senator’s support for abortion rights — while he personally disapproves of abortion — that elicited objections from Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Durbin’s hometown, who said he was “shocked” by the idea of honoring the U.S. Senate’s No. 2 Democrat.

“This decision risks causing grave scandal, confusing the faithful about the Church’s unequivocal teaching on the sanctity of human life,” Paprocki said in a statement.

Durbin, 80, announced in April that he would not seek reelection, ending more than four decades on Capitol Hill. Cupich argued in a statement that the totality of Durbin’s work, including critical efforts on behalf of immigrants, should be considered.

“Catholic teaching on life and dignity cannot be reduced to a single issue, even an issue as important as abortion,” Cupich said. “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.”

The friction between U.S. bishops and Catholic politicians who support abortion rights is a long-running phenomenon. It reached an intense phase in 2004 when John Kerry, a Catholic, won the Democratic presidential nomination. The 2020 election of former President Joe Biden, another Democrat and practicing Catholic, created an unprecedented dilemma for bishops, although Biden was allowed to receive Communion in Washington, D.C.

Durbin was barred from receiving Communion in his home diocese of Springfield in 2004. Paprocki has continued the prohibition and considers himself Durbin’s bishop. Cupich claims Durbin as a member of the Chicago Archdiocese; Durbin has previously said he found a welcoming parish in Chicago, where he also has a home. Durbin’s office has not responded to The Associated Press’ emailed interview request.

The archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, agreed with Paprocki “that both clarity and unity are at risk.” Cordileone, who in 2022 barred former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from Communion over her support of abortion access, said in a post on the social platform X that he hopes the issue will prompt “all members of the Body of Christ to speak out to make clear the grave evil that is the taking of innocent human life.”

Catholic hierarchy describes opposition to abortion as its preeminent priority, but lay Catholics aren’t necessarily on board. According to a 2022 poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, most opposed the denial of Communion for politicians who support abortion rights.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in a 2004 statement on “Catholics in Political Life” that no honors should go to politicians “who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles” lest they signal support for their actions.

In 2021, the conference approved a long-anticipated teaching document on Communion that some hoped would serve as a rebuke for Catholic politicians who are for abortion rights. But it stopped short of calling for the withholding of Communion from these public officials.

The USCCB declined comment on Tuesday.

On immigration, U.S. bishops have been at odds with the Trump administration on its crackdown policies. Earlier this year, the USCCB sued the administration for its abrupt funding cut to refugee resettlement, which it has been a part of for years. The bishops also ended a half-century of partnerships with the federal government to serve refugees and migrant children over funding cuts.

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Meyer reported from Nashville, Tennessee.