Archbishop Naumann Accuses Cardinal Cupich of ‘Pastoral Neglect’ for Honoring Pro-Abortion Senator| National Catholic Register
The retired archbishop of Kansas City, Kansas — a past chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee — is the latest American prelate to publicly chastise Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich for honoring U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a long-standing advocate of legalized abortion.
Another U.S. bishop has publicly rebuked Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich for his plan to honor pro-abortion Sen. Richard Durbin with a lifetime achievement award.
In a statement released to the Register on Saturday, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann, the recently retired ordinary of Kansas City, Kansas, said it is a “source of scandal” for the cardinal to recognize the Illinois senator in this way, calling it a case of “pastoral neglect.”
Archbishop Naumann is the latest American prelate to chastise Cardinal Cupich for deciding to honor Durbin — a Catholic politician whose own bishop banned him from receiving Communion in the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois — at the Chicago archdiocese’s Keep Hope Alive immigration-ministry fundraising dinner on Nov. 3.
Cardinal Cupich has steadfastly defended the move, saying the award is meant to recognize Durbin’s efforts to advance Catholic social teaching in immigration, care for the poor, environmental protection and the promotion of world peace.
“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,” Cardinal Cupich said in a Sept. 22 statement.
In the same statement, the cardinal invoked the Vatican’s call for bishops to “reach out to and engage in dialogue with Catholic politicians within their jurisdictions … as a means of understanding the nature of their positions and their comprehension of Catholic teaching.”
But Archbishop Naumann, a past chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee, said such a rationale “makes no sense.”
“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,” he said in his statement.
Archbishop Naumann emphasized that the USCCB “has consistently identified the protection of unborn children and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion as the primary human rights issue of our time.”
He explained that the bishops’ conference takes this position because abortion: “attacks the life of the most innocent and vulnerable;” “harms the family and the most fundamental of human relationships by pitting the welfare of mothers against the lives of their own children;” destroys innocent life on a “horrific magnitude,” and harms the women involved “physically, emotionally and spiritually.”
“Moreover, legalized abortion encourages the irresponsibility of men by absolving them from providing for the children they have fathered as well as caring for their mothers,” Archbishop Naumann said.
“Ignoring the policies and recommendations of the Bishops Conference is not synodal and serves to fracture unity,” he added.
To date, eight active diocesan ordinaries in the U.S. have publicly disagreed with Cardinal Cupich’s move to honor Durbin. Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki was the first to voice his opposition. Since then, the following prelates have issued statements opposing the honor and calling for Cardinal Cupich to reconsider his decision: 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 St. Joseph-Kansas City, Missouri and Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas.
Editor’s note: This story was amended the evening of Sept. 27, 2025, after posting, to correct the tally of current diocesan bishops who have spoken out against honoring Sen. Dick Durbin.
