Pope Leo on the Durbin Award: Wrong and Irrelevant

Pope Leo’s answer to a question about the Chicago archdiocesan award for Senator Durbin was certainly disappointing. It was also largely irrelevant.The key question—the question that American bishops are now asking—is whether Cardinal Cupich can justify bestowing an honor on a pro-abortion politician. Pope Leo did not address that question.

In rolling out the shopworn “seamless garment” approach, the Pope suggested that some other unnamed politicians should not be classified as pro-life. American Catholics have been debating that issue for 40 years. But right now the issue is not the status of those other hypothetical politicians. The question is whether Durbin is pro-life. By the Pope’s own statement, he is not. “The Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.” Therefore Durbin should not be honored by a Catholic institution. Case closed.

This is not a complex question, like an election in which one candidate offends against one aspect of Catholic teaching while the other offends against another. At times Catholic voters must choose between flawed alternatives. In this case there was no need to honor Durbin or any other politician. The Chicago archdiocese has chosen to single out this senator for an honor that he does not deserve.

”I am not terribly familiar with the particular case,” the Pope said as he began his response to a reporter’s question. That is an excellent reason for a Roman Pontiff to avoid any direct answer to a vexed political question. And in a sense (see above) Pope Leo did not answer. But his non-answer muddled the issue—in two different ways.

Several American bishops (there are ten names on the list as I write) have felt compelled, by their duty as defenders of the faith, to oppose the Durbin award. Unfortunately most of the American hierarchy has remained silent. The Pope’s statement will probably ensure that timid bishops—of whom there are many—will maintain that silence.

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