Pope refuses to take sides in Senator Durbin award controversy
The Catholic Herald • October 1, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has declined to take a position in the growing controversy over a decision by the Archdiocese of Chicago to present a lifetime achievement award to a pro-abortion US senator.
Speaking to journalists outside the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, where the pontiff has been spending Tuesdays before returning to the Vatican, His Holiness said he was aware of the matter but admitted he was “not terribly familiar with the particular case” involving Senator Richard Durbin.
Instead, the Pope offered a broad defence of what is known as the “seamless garment” approach to Catholic moral teaching, stressing that the Church’s pro-life witness must extend beyond the abortion debate.
“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favour of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” he said. “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.”
He urged Catholics to respect one another, adding that “the Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear”.
He did not endorse either the position of Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, who has defended the award being given to Durbin – who has subsequently turned it down – or the position of the American bishops who have objected to the award.
“I understand the difficulty and the tensions,” the Pope said. “It’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church.”
The award has drawn strong criticism from a number of senior prelates. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, led calls for Cardinal Cupich to withdraw the accolade, supported by seven other bishops including Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico, Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita, Kansas, Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City-St Joseph, Missouri, and Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas.
Cardinal Cupich has defended the decision to give the award by citing a 2022 instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which urged bishops to engage with Catholic politicians.
The dispute comes against a backdrop of long-running tensions in the United States over the public witness of Catholic politicians. Senator Durbin has been at the centre of this debate for years because of his consistent support for abortion rights, a stance at odds with Church teaching.
The Democrat senator is a practising Catholic who has discussed how his faith plays a significant role in his life and values.
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Photo: Pope Leo XIV prays during the weekly General Audience at the Vatican, 1 October 2025. (Photo by FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP via Getty Images.)