Weeks after Cardinal Blase Cupich caused a national uproar by proposing to bestow an award to U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, a prominent abortion rights supporter, Pope Leo XIV signaled he still has Cupich’s back.
This week, the pope appointed Cupich to the pontifical commission for the Vatican City State. While the post is not hugely influential, the appointment nonetheless shows the pope is not running away from Cupich.
Beyond that, Cupich’s appointment is raising a new question about how long he will stay in Chicago.
Among those raising it is Cupich himself.
When the Chicago Sun-Times asked for comment on his appointment, Cupich’s press office released this statement: “I will continue to serve as the Archbishop of Chicago until the Holy Father provides otherwise.”
Rumors have long swirled about Cupich aiming — or being considered — for a top post in Rome where the Catholic Church is headquartered.
Cupich reportedly met with Pope Francis in 2021 to discuss possibly being appointed as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a powerful Vatican group that helps the pope identify future bishops to appoint. Instead, Robert Prevost, then a bishop in Peru, got that job in 2023. The position served as a steppingstone for Prevost, who was elected pope this year after the death of Pope Francis.
Cupich’s new post is not as powerful. The pontifical commission is a seven-member body that votes to make laws for Vatican City, which must then be approved by the pope. But the position could ease Cupich into retirement.
Cupich is 76 years old. He was supposed to retire at 75, when all bishops must submit resignation letters to the pope. Cupich submitted his resignation letter last year, but it hasn’t been accepted by Leo.
Bishops typically keep their posts until around 78 years old, said Steven Millies, a public theology professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
“We’re likely in the last years of Cupich,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think “this appointment signals he’s leaving anytime soon.”
“As long as Cupich’s health is holding out and he’s up for the job, and his relationship with the pope is good, he’ll hold out,” Millies said.
Cupich’s appointment also signals that he’s in the pope’s good graces.
The pope’s move is notable because this is the first time someone on the pontifical commission does not live in Rome, said Michael Sean Winters, a writer for the National Catholic Reporter.
“Leo had to stretch to make this happen,” he said.
The pope likely views Cupich as an effective manager, Winters said. Cupich built up that reputation in Rome after being assigned by Francis to audit a Vatican office in 2021. He also organized a summit on the protection of minors in 2019.
But, notably, the appointment signals Leo is continuing to support Cupich after the Durbin controversy.
In September, Cupich caused an uproar by offering a lifetime achievement award to Durbin for his work on immigration reform and support for immigrants. The decision drew ire from Catholic anti-abortion groups and Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, who wrote that Durbin was “unfit to receive any Catholic honor” because of his stance on abortion.
The church views abortion as a grave sin.
Durbin ended up rejecting the award after the backlash. But before he did, the pope publicly defended Cupich by saying it was “very important to look at the overall work that the senator has done,” including his work on behalf of immigrants and other social issues.
“In this appointment, it’s saying ‘stop criticizing my guy,'” Winters said.
Michael Murphy, director of Loyola University Chicago’s Hank Center for the Catholic Intellectual Heritage, said the recent appointment “signals Leo’s growing confidence in Cupich’s abilities.”
“It’s a state appointment. It’s small, but it’s key,” Murphy said.
Does that mean Cupich will leave Chicago?
“You never know,” Murphy said.
“Chicago is a vital center of American Catholicism. … Cupich was the right guy at the time” when he replaced Cardinal Francis George in 2014. “But you don’t stay forever.”
“This might be [Cupich’s] last job. Again, it’s to the pleasure of the pope.”