Hours before radically pro-abortion Senator Dick Durbin declined to receive a controversial reward from Catholic Cardinal Blase Cupich, Pope Leo weighed in on the controversy.
A reporter asked him an awkwardly-worded question about Cupich’s decision to give Durbin an award despite his decades-long support for unlimited abortion.
“One thing that has become a very, very divisive subject in the U.S. right now is Cardinal Cupich giving an award to Senator Durbin. So people of faith are having a hard time with understanding that Cupich is pro, or rather is for, legalized abortion. How would you help people of faith right now decipher that, feel about that, and how do you feel about that?”
“I’m not terribly familiar with the particular case,” Pope Leo responded.
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But then the head of the Catholic Church spoke in a way that made it very clear he was at least somewhat familiar with the controversy.
And he essentially defended Cupich’s stance on the award – saying a politician can’t be judged based solely on his votes related to killing babies in abortions.
“I think that it’s very important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” the Pope added. “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 what is the teaching of the Church.”
The Pope then essentially said many pro-life Republican votes are not truly pro-life.
“Someone who says I’m against abortion but says I’m in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” he added.
Pope Leo then addressed the issue of illegal immigration and essentially sided with Cupich’s reasoning for giving Durbin an award – that Durbin was good enough supporting illegal immigrants to receive an award despite his horrific support for killing children in the womb.
The Pope said: “So someone who says that I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life. So they’re very complex issues. I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them, but I would ask first and foremost that there be greater respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings, in that case as American citizens or citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics to say we need to really look closely at all of these ethical issues and to find the way forward as Church. Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.he comments make it clear that the Pope thinks many pro-life Americans – who oppose abortion but also oppose illegal immigration may not be fully pro-life.
The comments have already drawn criticism online, with some pro-life people like pro-life writer Matt Walsh saying they disagree with Pope Leo.
Really terrible answer from Pope Leo. God Himself prescribes the death penalty in the Bible. Is the Pope saying that God is “not pro-life”? And who exactly is advocating for “inhumane treatment of immigrants”? What sort of inhumane treatment is he referring to? Deportations? Also, how can he say that “nobody has all the truth” on any of these issues? We know the truth on abortion. It isn’t complicated. Awful stuff from the Pope. Truly horrendous on about five different levels.
Many pro-life Americans may call on the Pope to clarify his remarks further on this.
