Cardinal Cupich Draws Catholic Backlash for Honoring Billionaire Michael Sacks, an Abortion-Access Donor, at a Seminary Gala
Chicago's cardinal will give Sacks a new interreligious award at the Oct. 29 dinner for Mundelein Seminary. CatholicVote and Catholic writers say it clashes with U.S. bishops' guidance. Cupich says honoring a person is not endorsing all his views.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich is facing criticism from Catholic commentators over a planned award, Fox News reports.
The event. Cupich is to recognize billionaire Michael Sacks at the Oct. 29 Rerum Novarum Awards Dinner, which benefits the education of future priests at Mundelein Seminary.
The objection. Fox reports that between 2020 and 2022 the Sacks Family Foundation, where Sacks is president and treasurer, gave grants totaling $500,000 to Planned Parenthood of Illinois. It also cites a Sept. 29 Crain's Chicago Business report that Sacks and his wife, Cari, gave $600,000 to the Prairie State Access Fund, set up with the administration of Gov. JB Pritzker to support abortion access. Sacks sits on the board of the Obama Foundation.
The precedent. About a year ago Cupich planned to honor Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and bishops objected over his abortion-rights record. Durbin declined the award.
The cardinal's reply. In a Monday statement, Cupich said this year's dinner adds a Nostra Aetate Award, named for the Second Vatican Council declaration on relations with non-Christian religions, to honor leaders of other faiths. He called Sacks "a well-respected leader in Chicago and in the Jewish community." He argued that honoring someone for leadership and service is not an endorsement of all his positions, and that refusing to engage Jews over differing views "can risk mimicking historic patterns of antisemitism."
The critics. Carl E. Olson of the Catholic World Report said the archdiocese "plays the antisemitic card," and asked whether there were no prominent pro-life Jewish leaders in the area. Reporter Christine Niles quoted the U.S. bishops' "Catholics in Political Life" statement, which says Catholic institutions "should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles." CatholicVote president Kelsey Reinhardt urged Cupich to "reconsider this honor."
Sacks. A spokesperson said he is honored and that the cardinal's statement "speaks for itself." The archdiocese's media office said it had nothing to add to the statement on its website.
Note for readers: the donation figures come from Fox's reporting and the Crain's report it cites, which we have not seen. Fox says it also asked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for comment.