As voters faced a November 2012 referendum on the legalization of same-sex marriage in Washington state , Cupich wrote a pastoral letter that first noted that the question was often seen in terms of personal sympathy and " a matter of equality " : Cupich then called for " a substantial public debate ... carried on with respect , honesty and conviction " and asked for " careful consideration " of the church 's position on the referendum . He concluded with a statement of tolerance that differentiated the Church from opponents of the referendum : He explained the Church 's position on the referendum : that Washington 's registered domestic partnerships already gave same-sex couples '' all '' the legal rights associated with marriage , so equality was not an issue ; that the referendum attempts to make different-sex and same-sex relationships '' identical '' , not '' equal '' ; that it ignores the real differences between men and women and how " sons and daughters learn about gender from the way it is lived by their mothers and fathers " ; that removing the terms '' mother '' and '' father '' from legal documents transforms how we think about family relationships ; that the impact on other features of marriage law , such as limiting marriage by relatives or restricting marriage to two people , are unknown ; and that the question is not whether a religious or secular definition of marriage will prevail : " Marriage existed either before the church or the state . It is written in our human nature . " Cupich wrote on January 22 , 2013 , referencing the murder of 20 children in a Newtown , Connecticut , elementary school a few weeks earlier , that " The truth will win out and we have to believe that a nation whose collective heart can break and grieve for babies slaughtered in Newtown has the capacity and God ’s grace to one day grieve for the babies killed in the womb . " Cupich allowed Catholic Charities employees to help people register for benefits under the Affordable Care Act , popularly known as " Obamacare , " in contrast to most other bishops . He said : In June 2014 , Cupich spoke at a conference at the Catholic University of America on the Catholic response to libertarianism , which he criticized in detail : As an alternative to libertarianism Cupich advocated some of Pope Francis ' views , including his " different approach to how we know and learn " by " making sure that ideas do dialogue with reality " and his call " for a shift from an economics of exclusion to a culture of encounter and the need for accompaniment " , in which , he explains , " One encounters another , not one self . This emphasis on encounter and accompaniment unmasks the difficulty with libertarianism , for its stated goal is to increase human autonomy as the priority . " He closed by expressing his " serious concerns about libertarianism that impact the pastoral life , " the difficulty of counseling young people whose " interior life is at risk in a world that encourages them to be caught up in their own interests " . Francis ' critique of contemporary capitalism is , in his view , " tethered to a rich tradition of ... challenging economic and political approaches which fall short of placing human dignity in all its fullness as the priority . " The Vatican announced on September 20 , 2014 , that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of Cardinal Francis George as Archbishop of Chicago and named Cupich to succeed him . Cupich was installed there on November 18 , 2014 . Before his installation in Chicago , Cupich announced he would live in a suite of rooms at Holy Name Cathedral rather than in the Gold Coast mansion that traditionally served as the residence of Chicago 's archbishops
Newtown , Connecticut , elementary school
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Blase J. Cupich