Various U.S. bishops expressed relief and happiness after U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, announced his decision to decline an award from the Chicago Archdiocese following backlash over his pro-abortion views.

Late Tuesday, Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said Durbin had decided to back away from receiving the award after numerous U.S. bishops criticized the archdiocese for selecting Durbin to receive the honor.

The Illinois senator was scheduled to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award for support to immigrants” at an archdiocesan event in November. Cardinal Cupich described the senator as embodying “unwavering support of immigrants, which is so needed in our day.”

Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, who presides over Durbin’s home diocese, had in September said Durbin was “unfit to receive any Catholic honor.” In an Oct. 1 statement on X, the bishop said he was “grateful” that the senator ultimately declined the award. 

Noting that October is Respect Life Month, Bishop Paprocki urged Catholics to “continue to pray for our Church, our country, and for the human dignity of all people to be respected in all stages of life including the unborn and immigrants.”

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, meanwhile — who previously served as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee — said on Oct. 1 that he was “relieved” at Durbin’s decision. 

“The Church must continue to boldly proclaim the gospel of life in its entirety,” he said. “Our public witness to the Gospel, to convincingly move hearts and minds to conversion, will always require that the Church show the hierarchy and unity of all truths.”

In his Sept. 30 statement announcing Durbin’s withdrawal from the award, Cardinal Cupich said he was proposing “synodal gatherings” for Catholics “to experience listening to each other with respect on these issues.” 

Bishop Burbidge in turn noted that productive conversations “occur only when participants share a basic commitment to certain objective moral realities about what is good and evil.”

Among those, he said, is “the human right to life.”

“True dialogue cannot take place when a purportedly Catholic lawmaker turns a blind eye to the killing of innocent persons,” he said. 

Durbin’s withdrawal from the award came just hours after Pope Leo XIV addressed the controversy, with the Holy Father — himself a Chicago native — arguing that such political disputes are “complex.” 

“I understand the difficulty and the tensions. But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church,” the Pope said. 

Numerous other U.S. bishops had previously expressed disapproval over the proposed award, including Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska; Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico; and San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone.

In a statement on X on Oct. 1, Archbishop Cordileone extended Durbin “compliments” for withdrawing from the award, which the prelate described as a “great display of magnanimity.” 

“In such a contentious issue that threatens even greater division, Sen. Durbin chose to take the higher moral ground,” the archbishop said. “Such an act required tremendous humility on his part. We need more humility in our country.”