Archbishop Naumann: Heroic Witness to Life

In a world marked by pick-and-choose approaches to protecting human dignity — what Pope Francis has called “the throwaway culture” — brave and steadfast champions of life are sorely in need.

This is why Archbishop Joseph Naumann deserves particular attention — and his ministry deserves to be celebrated.

The outgoing shepherd of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, whose age-required resignation was accepted by Pope Francis on April 8, has been a consistent witness for the cause of life throughout his 50 years of ordained ministry. Blending personal conviction with effective advocacy, the 75-year-old prelate has refused to compromise on any aspect of what St. John Paul II called the “gospel of life.”

In a sense, Archbishop Naumann was prepared to play this role before he was even born. In 1948, while his mother was still pregnant with him, his father was murdered. But instead of turning to vengeance, his mother raised her two sons to embrace mercy — a witness to the value of every life that left a deep impression on the future archbishop.

“Whether it’s the unborn child [in] a difficult pregnancy, or whether it’s the criminal on death row — every life is sacred, and destroying life is never what the Gospel calls us to do,” Archbishop Naumann said in 2021.

Archbishop Naumann’s embrace of the goodness of life has defined his efforts to end abortion, prompting him to defy the false dichotomy the culture of death sets up between a mother and her child. As the Archdiocese of St. Louis’ priest coordinator of pro-life ministry, he established a local Rachel’s Project group in 1986, bringing healing to women involved in abortion. And as the head of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life efforts from 2018 to 2021, he launched Walking With Moms In Need, an effort to equip parishes to be pro-life hubs. A constant presence at the national March for Life, Archbishop Naumann has played a pro-life leadership role for more than 40 years.

Read more at National Catholic Register