(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Blase Cupich’s scandalous decision to honor radical pro-abortion Democratic Senator Dick Durbin with a “lifetime achievement award” has lit a fire under two U.S. Catholic clergy.
But before discussing which prelates are speaking up and why, I want to quickly touch on how the award itself speaks to its own absurdity.
In the first place, Durbin has served in the Senate for 28 years thanks in large part to his support for abortion laws. Such policies ensure that preborn Americans never get a chance at life. Said another way, they result in others never having the chance at receiving a “lifetime achievement award.”
A self-identifying Catholic, Durbin also supports “homosexual marriage.” But such sinful relationships not only violate the Bible’s teachings on the family, they cannot in any way produce human life. For Cardinal Cupich to give an award to Durbin for defending “human dignity” is patently ridiculous.
Cupich’s decision has caught the eye of two prominent U.S. clergy: Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois. In recent days, both of them have courageously rebuked Cupich, something that simply did not happen to him while Pope Francis was alive.
“I was shocked,” Paprocki, who has already banned Durbin from Holy Communion in his diocese, has said. “This decision risks causing grave scandal … [and] honoring a public figure who has actively worked to expand and entrench the right to end innocent human life in the womb undermines the very concept of human dignity and solidarity that the award purports to uphold.”
Cordileone echoed Paprocki’s concerns in a statement posted on X.
“Although a self-professed Catholic, [Durbin] supports access to abortion so radically that he has even opposed legislation to protect babies born after an attempted abortion. Bishop Paprocki is correct that both clarity and unity are at risk,” His Excellency remarked.
I stand in solidarity with Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, in urging Cardinal Cupich to reconsider giving Senator Durbin a Lifetime Achievement Award through the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity given his long record of supporting… https://t.co/T9X5R7ai2T
— Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone (@ArchCordileone) September 21, 2025
Paprocki and Cordileone’s pushback has prompted Catholics online to wonder if the Church in the U.S. has entered a new era now that Francis has died.
“These disagreements are usually not aired publicly,” Fr. Peter Totleben, O.P. remarked on X. “Everyone feels comfortable calling Cardinal Cupich out, which shows you where the momentum is among the US bishops, and that a page has been turned in Rome, because Cupich is no longer the Pope’s guy in America.”
Also, you will notice that everyone feels comfortable calling Cardinal Cupich out, which shows you where the momentum is among the US bishops, and that a page has been turned in Rome, because Cupich is no longer the Pope’s guy in America.
— Fr. Peter Totleben, O.P. (@FrTotleben92742) September 21, 2025
Writer Emily Zanotti also noticed the atypical nature of the criticism, which she called a “vibe shift.”
“Apparently +Cupich used to just do what he wanted and that wasn’t cool with then-Cardinal Prevost, who now probably doesn’t take his phone calls,” she theorized while quoting an X post that suggested Cupich “is no longer seen as Rome’s watch dog.”
Vibe shift.
Also, apparently +Cupich used to just do what he wanted and that wasn’t cool with then-Cardinal Prevost, who now probably doesn’t take his phone calls. https://t.co/dj5GH3ovwO
— Emily Zanotti 🦝 (@emzanotti) September 22, 2025
It is far too early to tell if there has been a “vibe shift” in the U.S. among the clergy. The Lavender Mafia — Cupich, McElroy, Tobin, and the rest of Theodore McCarrick’s “nephews” — still wields immense power and influence.
At the same time, as Jayd Henricks noted in his column for The Catholic World Report, Cupich’s decision will surely grab the Vatican’s attention, and should show us pretty soon just what sort of man Leo really is.
“This latest act of honoring a well-known advocate for abortion should catch the attention of the new Holy Father. How he responds may indicate how he will relate to U.S. bishops,” Henricks writes. “Pope Leo XIV does not have to publicly admonish Cupich to signal his displeasure. Cardinal Cupich is beyond retirement age. The Holy Father can easily accept his resignation and replace him with someone who might be an effective leader among U.S. Catholics …”
“For the pope’s hometown, he should have a man he can trust. Blase Cupich is not that man.”