My first words of welcome are to the parents and families of Bishops Bartosic, Casey and Hicks. Your son, brother and uncle will need you now more than ever. Stay close to him and pray every day for him. I am also honored that Pope Francis is with us today in the person of his representative. Welcome, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. Please let the Holy Father know of our deep affection and enthusiastic support. Your participation today is also a reminder to us all, especially the bishops present here, how we are united with each other and with “the one chosen by the Lord to be the Successor of Peter.”

My first words are for you, jubilarians, who come together to celebrate your Golden Wedding Anniversary with your family and friends and the Church. Yes, I want to say “congratulations; we are proud of you”, but equally I want to say, “thank you.” Thank you for witnessing in a unique way to the power of God’s grace. You are a testament to a core value of our faith, that we are a people on pilgrimage, whom the Lord accompanies along the way, guiding us with his light when the path is uncertain, coming back for us when we stray, encouraging us when we grow weary of taking up the journey time and again. He has walked with you since the day you took each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.

Brothers and sisters, tonight we gather for the ninth and final evening of our novena to pray for healing and justice for the victims of sexual abuse. These nine days of prayer have brought together the Church of Chicagoland from Mundelein to Tinley Park, Waukegan to Willow Springs, it has brought together men, women and children of diverse ethnicities and walks of life. As they have been intentional in praying for healing for all who have been victimized, they have joined in solidarity with victim-survivors in their clarion call for the whole Cchurch to face these terrible crimes and fundamentally commit to work for justice.

An NBC Chicago TV report that aired Monday night was edited in such a way that gave the false impression that Pope Francis and I consider the protection of children to be less important than other issues, such as the environment or immigration. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The former nuncio makes a number of references to me in his “testimony.” The first is in the sentence: “This is how one explains that, as members of the Congregation for Bishops, the Pope replaced Cardinal Burke with Wuerl and immediately appointed Cupich right after he was made a cardinal.” The former nuncio is confused about the sequence of these events. In fact, I was appointed to the Congregation for Bishops on July 7, 2016, and was named a cardinal on October 9, 2016.

I am grateful for this opportunity to be on this panel of distinguished professors and lawyers to discuss this important topic of capital punishment. Their significant contributions put us in touch with the wide range of systemic injustices involved, such as the inconsistencies in applying Supreme Court decisions, the problems of racism, regional disparities and other factors related to the inequality of legal representation and the arbitrariness in applying the death penalty, the evolving standards of decency, not to mention the clear evidence that innocent people have been put to death.

I want to thank the Heartland Alliance for allowing me access to their facility so I could visit with the children there. Today I met children who have come from all over the world. We had a chance to talk with each other, to pray together and greet each other personally. The resiliency and courage of these young people was impressive and I will not forget our time together.

Yesterday afternoon I learned that city and state law enforcement officials were cooperating to allow marchers to enter the Dan Ryan in a way that would secure the safety of all. Let us give thanks that all came together to achieve a peaceful march today.

History has proven many times that non-violent action and peaceful protest have the power to create change. The change we need in this moment is to end a culture of violence and indifference. This is a priority we must all embrace and for which we must all work.

There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all.