Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich, the current Archbishop of Chicago, is a close ally of Pope Francis but whose views and actions have been questioned for departing from orthodoxy and apostolic tradition.

Born on March 19, 1949, in Omaha, Nebraska, Cupich was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Omaha on August 16, 1975. He obtained his B.A. in Philosophy from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1971. He furthered his studies at the North American College and Gregorian University in Rome, earning a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology in 1974 and an M.A. in Theology in 1975. He later received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1979 and a Doctorate of Sacred Theology in 1987 from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Cupich’s ecclesiastical life has been marked by several significant appointments. He served as Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, from 1998 to 2010, and as Bishop of Spokane, Washington from 2010 to 2014. Reputedly going over the heads of his Vatican advisers, Francis appointed Cupich Archbishop of Chicago in 2014, succeeding the late Cardinal Francis George.

Cupich was elevated to the College of Cardinals on November 19, 2016.

The American cardinal served as Chair for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People from 2008-2011 and for the National Catholic Educational Association from 2013-2015.

He has also been appointed to various influential Vatican dicasteries by Pope Francis, including the Dicastery for Bishops, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

In 2019, he was one of four members of an organizing committee that prepared an international Vatican summit on clerical sex abuse.

Cardinal Cupich has sought to promote Francis’ pastoral and synodal approaches, but how he has gone about this, along with his handling of certain issues, have drawn significant criticism and controversy.

In Rapid City in 2002, he banned children from receiving their first communion and confirmation in the old rite and prohibited a Traditional Mass community from celebrating the Mass in the vetus ordo.

Cupich was also one of the first bishops to issue restrictions on the Traditional Mass following the publication of Traditionis Custodes in 2021. His decree, released just after Christmas on December 27, 2021, included the prohibition of Traditional Latin Masses on the first Sunday of every month, Christmas, the Triduum, Easter Sunday, and Pentecost Sunday.

One year after Benedict XVI appointed him bishop of Spokane in 2010, Cupich discouraged priests and seminarians of the diocese from demonstrating in front of Planned Parenthood clinics or supporting the 40 Days for Life anti-abortion movement.¹He said: “Decisions about abortion are not usually made in front of clinics – they’re made at ‘kitchen tables and in living rooms and they frequently involve a sister, daughter, relative or friend who may have been pressured or abandoned by the man who fathered the child.’”

Cupich has also faced repeated criticism for his perceived leniency towards Catholic politicians who support abortion rights. The latest criticism came in 2024 when he delivered the invocation prayer at the Democratic National Convention despite the party’s strong promotion of abortion rights, and the organizers allowing a truck to park just outside the convention center where free abortions and vasectomies were provided. Cupich’s supporters saw it as an opportunity to bring prayer into the public sphere; pro-life activists saw it as a “incredibly disheartening” and a “missed opportunity to condemn the Democrats “vile, murderous policies.”

In an unprecedented move in 2020, Cupich publicly criticized a statement by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on President Joe Biden’s inauguration. The statement stressed the evils of abortion, saying it was “the preeminent issue that cannot be ignored.” Biden was a staunchly pro-abortion politician who described himself as a “devout Catholic.” Cupich called the USCCB statement “ill-considered” and claimed it was issued without proper consultation. This public disagreement with fellow bishops was seen as a breach of episcopal etiquette.

Cupich did, however, welcome the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, calling it an “important ruling” that creates an opportunity for “a national conversation on protecting human life in the womb.”

In 2018, the American cardinal came under fire for dismissing abuse allegations against then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, saying the Pope “has a bigger agenda” and “we’re not going to go down a rabbit hole on this.” McCarrick was later found guilty, removed from the cardinalate and laicized. Cupich later said McCarrick “should be held accountable” and he commended a Vatican investigation into the laicized former cardinal.

Cupich is a strong proponent of synodality in the Church. He sees it as “a new way of being church” that taps into Catholic tradition. He supports having lay people, including women, participate and vote in synods alongside bishops.

He has called for more welcoming language toward homosexuals, saying that using terms like “gay” and “lesbian” is “a step toward respect.” Cupich also praised the Vatican’s 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans saying such blessings for same-sex couples was “a step forward” in pastoral accompaniment. His views contrasted with widespread opposition to the declaration across the world, especially in Africa.

Cupich also views climate change as an urgent threat to humanity that the Church must address. He has called on bishops to “step forward and galvanize sentiment” on the issue. And he has expressed openness to further discussion on the possibility of women deacons in the Church, though he has not explicitly endorsed the idea. He would like to see an expanding role of women in the Church.

In 2024, the cardinal caused further controversy when he issued a letter urging the faithful to stand while receiving holy Communion and not make gestures that draw attention to oneself.²The cardinal wrote that “nothing should be done to impede any of these processions” and that “disrupting this moment only diminishes this powerful symbolic expression, by which the faithful in processing together express their faith that they are called to become the very Body of Christ they receive.” Redemptionis Sacramentum (2004) states that communicants should not be denied holy Communion because they kneel. The guideline applies to the average situation in most Catholic churches.

Numbers of priests, religious and seminarians have all declined since Cardinal Cupich was appointed Archbishop of Chicago in 2014. 

Between 2013 and 2023, the number of priests fell from 1,559 in to 1,269, male religious from 1,048 to 750, and women religious from 1,739 to 1,068. 

The number of seminarians studying for the priesthood in the archdiocese of Chicago has decreased significantly over the past decade. Although we do not have exact current figures, the closure of St. Joseph College Seminary in 2019 and declining numbers at Mundelein Seminary indicate that the current number is likely far lower than the 100+ seminarians of around 10 years ago.

Cardinal Cupich is reported to speak several languages including English, Italian and Spanish.