Pro-life is so complicated. Some think it means not killing babies in the womb, but when you’re liberal, then you understand that pro-life means being liberal.

Pope Leo XIV responded to controversy over the Chicago cardinal’s plans to honor a Catholic U.S. senator who supports legalized abortion, saying that the senator’s record should be considered in its totality and that Americans should search together for the truth on ethical issues.

Several U.S. bishops condemned Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich’s plans to honor U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, with a “lifetime achievement award” for his work surrounding immigration policy despite his pro-abortion voting record.

“I am not terribly familiar with the particular case. I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” the Pope told reporters on Tuesday in response to a question from EWTN News.

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the pope explained. “Someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

“So they are very complex issues and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” he continued.

Religious leaders? Apparently not.

Pro-life is very complex and nuanced, and maybe you’re not pro-life unless you support open borders.

Anyway, Sen. Durbin has held his position for around 30 years. Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago and spent a sizable amount of time there and occupied a variety of important quasi-political positions in between his time in Rome and Peru. And he really never developed an opinion on the senator from Illinois? I’m a bit skeptical here. He’s political enough to have strong opinions on politics now, but not on the longtime senator from his home state?