The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene next month to elect a new president and six committee chairmen, a routine vote overshadowed by a recent uproar over the Archdiocese of Chicago’s plan to honor pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin with a lifetime achievement award.
The plenary assembly, set for November 10-12 in Baltimore, comes amid lingering fallout from the controversy, which drew sharp rebukes from several bishops who decried the recognition as a scandal undermining the church’s core teachings on the sanctity of life.
The elections will select a successor to Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, who has served as USCCB president since November 2022.
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Also on the ballot are chairs for the committees on doctrine, domestic justice and human development, international justice and peace, laity, marriage, family life and youth, and migration.
The vote follows a period of internal tension highlighted by the Chicago incident, where Cardinal Blase Cupich defended plans to present the award to Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, at a November 3 fundraiser for the archdiocese’s immigration ministry. Cupich, in a September 22 statement, described the honor as recognition of Durbin’s “singular contribution to immigration reform and his unwavering support of immigrants.”
Durbin, a self-professed Catholic who has faced a Communion ban in his home diocese since 2004 for his radical pro-abortion stance, ultimately declined the award on September 30. Cupich expressed sadness over the decision but respect for it, reiterating that the gesture was tied to a “consistent ethic of life” that extends beyond any single issue.
“At the heart of the consistent ethic of life is the recognition that Catholic teaching on life and dignity cannot be reduced to a single issue, even an issue as important as abortion,” Cupich said.
The episode ignited widespread criticism from pro-life advocates and fellow bishops, who argued it confused the faithful and contradicted church doctrine prioritizing the protection of babies from abortion.
Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois — Durbin’s home diocese — said he was “shocked” by the announcement.
“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,” Paprocki said in a statement.
Paprocki, who enforced the Communion restriction on Durbin, urged Cupich to reconsider for the sake of “clarity, unity, and fidelity to the Gospel of Life.”
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco voiced solidarity with Paprocki on social media, stating: “I stand in solidarity with Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, in urging Cardinal Cupich to reconsider giving Senator Durbin a Lifetime Achievement Award … given his long record of supporting legal abortion.”
Other bishops echoed the concerns. Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph said the decision “cannot be reconciled with Catholic Social and Moral teaching” and would “give a confusing counter-witness about the dignity of the human person and the grave evil of destroying innocent human life.”
Retired Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, a former head of the USCCB’s pro-life committee, labeled the award a “source of scandal” and “pastoral neglect,” adding: “Dialogue does not require giving awards to Catholic political leaders who disregard the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life of the unborn.”
Durbin’s record includes votes against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, as well as support for legislation to codify abortion rights up to birth.
Illinois Right to Life President Mary Kate Zander condemned the planned award as “an explicitly inconsistent and un-Catholic choice,” warning it “causes scandal among the faithful by creating confusion” and risks Durbin’s soul by failing to hold him accountable.
John Breen, a board member of the Catholic Conference of Illinois and a Loyola University Chicago law professor, sought to address the issue at a canceled board meeting, calling Durbin “the poster child for the ‘inconsistent ethic of life.'”
Breen said: “All of our work is premised upon the dignity of the human person. And yet you’re going to honor a man who denies the dignity of a whole class of persons? It makes no sense.”
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, issued an open letter urging Durbin to decline, noting: “There has never been an abortion he couldn’t justify; his voting record on other matters is also in opposition to core Catholic teachings.”
Cupich countered that the award was meant to foster dialogue, per 2021 Vatican guidance, and could prompt reflection on interconnected issues. “It could be an invitation to Catholics who fiercely defend the vulnerable on the border between the United States and Mexico to ponder why the Church defends the vulnerable on the border between life and death, as in cases of abortion and euthanasia,” he said.
He stressed: “It is also important to clearly state that it would be wrong to interpret the decisions regarding the Keep Hope Alive event as a softening of our position on abortion.”
The controversy, which prompted statements from bishops including Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas; James Conley of Nebraska; David Ricken of Wisconsin; Carl Kemme of Kansas; and James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico, has fueled calls for renewed unity as the bishops prepare to choose new leaders.
Pro-life advocates, pointing to an estimated 89,770 abortions in Illinois last year and 66 million nationwide since 1973, view the elections as a pivotal moment to reinforce the church’s unwavering stance against abortion as the preeminent threat to human dignity.
