Political and religious debate has continued to ferment in the wake of Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin’s withdrawal from a prominent Catholic award after backlash over his decades of support for pro-abortion politics. Durbin was scheduled to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award for support to immigrants” at a Chicago archdiocesan event in November. But criticism from numerous U.S. bishops led the senator to back out of the award ceremony on Sept. 30. “Someone who says I’m against abortion but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really pro-life,” the pope told journalists. After days of backlash, various U.S. bishops expressed relief at Durbin’s backing out of the award.