Pro-Life Group Will Protest Cardinal Cupich Giving Award to Abortion Activist
Pro-life groups plan a peaceful protest Thursday outside an Archdiocese of Chicago fundraiser where Cardinal Blase Cupich is scheduled to honor a major donor to Planned Parenthood and abortion.
The Pro-Life Action League will join Illinois Right to Life outside the Seminary Salutes Rerum Novarum dinner at IBEW Local 134.
Cardinal Cupich and seminary rector the Very Rev. John Kartje are set to present the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Nostra Aetate Award to hedge fund manager Michael J. Sacks, chairman and CEO of GCM Grosvenor. The event raises money for the formation of future priests.
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Federal tax filings show the Sacks Family Foundation gave roughly $500,000 to Planned Parenthood of Illinois from 2020 to 2022. In September, Sacks and his wife contributed $600,000 to a state-backed fund that facilitates killing babies in abortions that benefited Planned Parenthood of Illinois and the Chicago Abortion Fund, according to Crain’s Chicago Business.
Illinois Right to Life has documented approximately $1.1 million in support from Sacks for abortion-related causes since 2020.
Pro-Life Action League executive director Eric Scheidler said the objection rests solely on Sacks’ funding of abortion.
“Our objection to this award is based solely on Mr. Sacks’s determined funding of abortion, which the Catholic Church calls an ‘unspeakable crime.’ It has nothing whatsoever to do with his religious affiliation,” Scheidler said. “The pro-life movement invites those of every faith to join us in defending the lives of unborn children.”
Scheidler noted that in 1988, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, together with Scheidler’s late father Joe Scheidler, buried 2,033 aborted children at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Cardinal Francis George later joined pro-life prayers at the site. Cupich has not accepted invitations to do the same, Scheidler said.
“Cardinal Cupich always seems to have time for powerful people like Mr. Sacks,” Scheidler said. “I’d like to see him take some time with the powerless, like the working-class women being pushed into abortions they don’t want at the very Planned Parenthood facilities Sacks funds.”
The U.S. bishops’ statement “Catholics in Political Life” says Catholic institutions “should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles.” The Catholic Church has long described abortion as an “unspeakable crime.”
Yesterday, the archdiocese defended the award by emphasizing interreligious dialogue under the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate and warning that refusing honors solely over conflicting views risks patterns associated with antisemitism. The statement did not address abortion.
Illinois Right to Life President and CEO Mary Kate Zander said the cardinal’s response misdirected from the central issue.
“Our history of opposing Catholic awards to pro-abortion individuals stands by itself,” Zander said. “We believe abortion grossly violates the human rights of mother and child and are disappointed that Cardinal Cupich is intentionally misdirecting from the core tenet of our statement: The Catholic Church, which has always stood against abortion, should never honor anyone who has so publicly promoted the killing of innocent life. Michael Sacks’ Jewish roots are completely irrelevant.”
More than 1,000 people signed a petition in less than 24 hours urging Cupich to rescind the award. Illinois Right to Life plans to deliver the signatures before the dinner. The peaceful protest is set for 4 p.m. Thursday at 2722 S. Martin Luther King Drive.
The dispute follows last year’s planned honor from Cupich for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a longtime supporter of abortion. Durbin declined after objections from other bishops.
WHAT: A peaceful protest outside the Rerum Novarum fundraiser
WHEN: Thursday, October 29, 2026 starting at 4:00 PM
WHERE: IBEW Local 134 Building – 2722 S. Martin Luther King Dr. Chicago, IL
ACTION: Request that the honor be withdrawn. Contact the Archdiocese of Chicago main office at 312-534-8200. Email: [email protected]
