Biography
Early life
The third of nine children, Thomas Paprocki was born August 5, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois; he has six brothers and two sisters. [2] A lifelong fan of hockey—who is sometimes referred to in the media as the "Holy Goalie" [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] —he began playing at a young age in the basement of his father's drugstore and supports the Chicago Blackhawks professional hockey team. [2] He graduated from Quigley Preparatory Seminary South in Chicago in 1970, and then entered Niles College in Chicago, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974. [8]
From 1974 to 1979, Paprocki studied at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, where he earned a Bachelor's in Sacred Theology (1976), Master's in Divinity (1978), and Licentiate in Sacred Theology (1979). [8]
Viewpoints
Abortion
In November 2008, Paprocki said, "If Catholic hospitals were required by federal law to perform abortions, we'd have to close our hospitals." [16]
Communion for politicians
In February 2018, Paprocki officially upheld a previous decision to bar U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, a Catholic in his diocese, from receiving communion after Durbin voted against a 20-week abortion ban. He made the following statement:
"In April 2004, Sen. Durbin's pastor, then Msgr. Kevin Vann (now Bishop Kevin Vann of Orange, CA), said that he would be reticent to give Sen. Durbin Holy Communion because his pro-abortion position put him outside of communion or unity with the Church's teachings on life. My predecessor, now Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, said that he would support that decision. I have continued that position. The provision is intended not to punish, but to bring about a change of heart." [17]
On June 6, 2019, Paprocki issued a decree officially barring Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, both Catholics, from receiving communion. Paprocki said this decree was due to their roles in passing the Reproductive Health Act, which removes spousal consent and waiting periods for abortions. While singling out Madigan and Cullerton specifically, Paprocki also asked that other Catholic legislators who voted for the bill not present themselves for communion either, stating that they had "cooperated in evil and committed grave sin." [18] Madigan stated that Paprocki had informed him earlier that he would be forbidden from taking communion if he permitted the House to debate and vote on the measure, but that he chose to do so. [19]
Contraception
When Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich issued an executive order in 2005 requiring all pharmacists in the state to dispense prescription contraceptives, [20] Paprocki condemned the order in Blagojevich's presence, saying,
"I am dismayed that our secular society has reached the point that individuals are being required by law to violate their personal religious beliefs in order to accommodate the selfish demands of special interest groups." [21]
COVID-19 vaccines
After the University of Notre Dame announced a vaccine requirement for students in April 2021, Paprocki and Notre Dame Law Professor Gerard Bradley spoke out against the requirement. In a letter to campus newspaper The Observer, Paprocki and Bradley cited a statement from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith arguing that "persons may — not must — get vaccinated." They also requested, in light of vaccine testing on stem cell lines derived from aborted fetuses, that "Notre Dame should expand its understanding of 'religious' objectors to include those whose refusal to be vaccinated are rooted in moral considerations or other objections of conscience." [22] [23]
As Bishop of Springfield, Paprocki subsequently rejected vaccine requirements for clergy and employees within his diocese. He did, however, emphasize that "each person has a moral duty to act responsibly out of concern for his or her neighbor by diligently following other safety measures," irrespective of vaccination status. [24]
Politics
In September 2012, Paprocki wrote a column in his diocese's Catholic Times newspaper about the upcoming US presidential elections. He declared that voting for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are "intrinsically evil and gravely sinful" makes one "morally complicit" and places the eternal salvation of the soul in "serious jeopardy." His article went on at length discussing how in his view the Democratic Party embraced objectionable doctrines, such as abortion rights for women and same-sex marriage. Paprocki took notice of the Republican Party's support for capital punishment in murder cases, stating that this did not directly conflict with Church teaching. He also argued that party differences over caring for the poor and immigration were "prudential judgments about the most effective means of achieving morally desirable ends, not intrinsic evils." [25]
Ahead of the 2016 elections, Paprocki denounced the Democratic Party for its "aggressive pro-abortion stance and activist agenda expanding lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights," adding that Republicans "have not fared very well in these same areas." He wrote that Democrats, who "articulate strong concern for the poor," have made little progress in fighting poverty. Paprocki said that Catholics could choose not to vote for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. [26]
LBGTQ rights
In November 2013, Paprocki said that Satan was behind the recent legalization of same-sex marriage in Illinois. He held an exorcism ceremony, reading exorcism rite "in reparation for the sin of same-sex marriage". [27]
On June 23, 2017, Paprocki instructed priests in his diocese to "deny Communion, last rites and funeral rites to people in same-sex marriages – unless they repent". He prohibited clergy and parish staff from either performing same-sex marriages or allowing wedding receptions to be hosted in any facilities or centres owned by the Catholic church. [28] This was followed by strong criticism. Author Michael Sean Winters of the National Catholic Reporter called for Paprocki to be "sacked." Christopher Pett, president of DignityUSA, described the decree as "mean-spirited and hurtful in the extreme." Paprocki defended his position as "a rather straightforward application of existing Church teaching and canon law." [29]
Paprocki criticized the Jesuit priest James Martin in 2017 for his outreach to the LGBTQ community. [30] According to Paprocki, Martin "correctly expresses God's love for all people, while on the other, he either encourages or fails to correct behavior that separates a person from that very love. This is deeply scandalous in the sense of leading people to believe that wrongful behavior is not sinful." [31]
In 2023, Paprocki said that Cardinal Robert W. McElroy's public pronouncements contradicted a "truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith". Paprocki took issue with remarks made by McElroy in which he appeared to reject teaching that a Catholic must be in a state of grace to receive communion. Paprocki also posed the question of an unnamed cardinal stating publicly that "homosexual acts are not sinful and same-sex unions should be blessed by the Church" as a further example of heterodox thought among Catholic leaders. "Until recently, it would be hard to imagine any successor of the apostles making such heterodox statements," wrote Paprocki in First Things . [32] [33]
In 2023, Paprocki wrote a newspaper column defending the criminalization of homosexual acts in Uganda, with penalties including death or life imprisonment. [34]
Sexual abuse scandal
In 2011, Paprocki said that the devil was the principal force behind the lawsuits against the Catholic Church by sexual abuse victims. [35]
In response to 2018 allegations by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò that Francis covered up allegations of sexual abuse against former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Paprocki called on all Vatican officials, including Francis, to "make public the pertinent files indicating who knew what and when...and provide the accountability that the Holy Father has promised." Paprocki criticized Francis for declining to answer a question about whether or not the accusations were true, saying, "Frankly, but with all due respect, that response is not adequate." [36]
Paprocki called for "public prayers of repentance and acts of atonement" in 2018 after reports of widespread sexual abuse and coverup in the Catholic Church. [37]
Worker's rights
Paprocki dissented from the amicus brief filed by the USCCB in support of public employee labor unions in the 2018 Janus v/ AFSCME case before the US Supreme Court. The USCCB had affirmed the Church's traditional teaching in support for unions, citing various Catholic documents. Paprocki disagreed with the USCCB, supporting a mandatory open shop for public employers. [38] Paprocki has not been a visitor or spiritual guide at union halls but has collaborated with Legatus, an organization of Catholic corporate executives. He has also preached for lawyers and business executives. [39]
Paprocki supported the Janus ruling to defend the conscience of the Catholic worker. He said that some public employee labor unions support what he considers as anti-Catholic stances; therefore, Catholic workers have the right to not support these groups. This distinction makes his opposition merely conditional; unions that are not contrary to Catholic teaching are not ruled out Ipso facto. Paprocki cites Pope Leo XIII's critical encyclical Rerum novarum paragraph 57 to show that Catholic support of organized labor has never been unconditional: [40]
"To sum up, then, We may lay it down as a general and lasting law that working men's associations should be so organized and governed as to furnish the best and most suitable means for attaining what is aimed at, that is to say, for helping each individual member to better his condition to the utmost in body, soul, and property. It is clear that they must pay special and chief attention to the duties of religion and morality, and that social betterment should have this chiefly in view; otherwise they would lose wholly their special character, and end by becoming little better than those societies which take no account whatever of religion. What advantage can it be to a working man to obtain by means of a society material well-being, if he endangers his soul for lack of spiritual food?" [41]
Liturgy
Paprocki criticized Traditionis custodes, a July 2021 motu proprio issued by Pope Francis which imposed restrictions on the Tridentine Mass, the Mass commonly offered before the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s and which still takes place in some churches. "My assessment of this is that it was ill-advised," he said. "I don't know who was advising him. But to the extent he was trying to solve a problem here, the motu proprio stirred things up." [42] Paprocki continued to allow parishes in his diocese to offer the older form of the Mass. [43]
