A Fighter For Life: Archbishop Naumann Deserves High Praise for Heroic Career

Some people hide from the painful difficulties of living in “interesting times.”

Not Archbishop Joseph Naumann.

Papal biographer George Weigel will be on hand to honor Archbishop Naumann for his career in public service, at a special event hosted by Benedictine College April 1 at 6 pm at Sacred Heart Church in Shawnee, Kansas.

Weigel will speak on St. John Paul II’s vision of the family — but he will also speak of his old friend Archbishop Naumann.

The Archbishop has been a close collaborator with the college for years. Naumann shared his approach to ministry with students when he delivered the homily at the 2024 Baccalaureate Mass at Benedictine College.

He said:

“The late President John F. Kennedy, in his January 1961, inaugural address noted that he and his fellow Americans lived in interesting times. He observed that an ancient Chinese curse was to wish for someone to live in interesting times. Dear 2024 graduates, you are living in interesting times.”

Nauman knows of what he speaks. Benedictine College will honor Naumann with its Transforming Culture in America Award at the April 1 event because he has gained ground against some impressive foes in his 20 years as Archbishop of Kansas City-Kansas.

Archbishop Naumann served as the pro-life leader for the U.S. Catholic bishops when self-described “devout Catholic” Joe Biden became president, and Naumann became known worldwide for his support for the right to life.

Naumann insisted that “the protection of unborn children and their mothers is the pre-eminent human public policy issue of our time” when some Church leaders suggested that there were other voting issues that compared to abortion, — and then he took that message to the Vatican, where Pope Francis agreed.

The Holy Father “was truly kind of stunned at the sheer number of abortions in the United States since Roe v. Wade — more than 60 million — and said that it is certainly the pre-eminent issue,” said Naumann.

Taking on Powerful Lawmakers

Naumann is considered a hero for his efforts to restore every human being’s right to life.

“Joe Biden has earned the title of the most pro-abortion president in history,” Archbishop Naumann said in an interview with Catholic World Report. The President has “vowed to use the full force of the federal government to keep abortion legal and unfettered from any restrictions” and “included in his budget massive federal funding of abortion,” he added.

Naumann is no stranger to tough political battles. He is known for a showdown he had with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius over abortion in 2008, when, after reaching out privately, he was forced to publicly announce that Sebelius could not receive communion. Sebelius had accepted campaign contributions from late-term abortionist George Tiller and then had worked to make abortion laws more favorable to higher profits for the abortion industry.

In 2020, Naumann has had to return to the issue. When Pat Pettey, a Catholic state senator from his archdiocese, opposed the Value Them Both amendment for what she claimed were reasons of faith, Archbishop Naumann stood up for the voiceless again.

“Sadly, Sen. Pettey’s statement is fraught with multiple errors in logic and Catholic teaching,” wrote Archbishop Naumann. “By invoking her Catholic faith for her reason for voting against the amendment, the senator actually created an even more serious moral problem for herself. The senator not only has misapplied Catholic moral teaching by her vote, but she is actually attempting to confuse others about Church teaching.”

Love Will Light the Way

But while he is tough when he needs to be, it is ultimately love and encouragement that will win the pro-life battle, Naumann insists. In 2018, Naumann was the featured speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., and stressed the need for love.

“We have no permanent enemies, but only confused brothers and sisters who have yet to encounter the Lord of Life and to experience his unconditional love and amazing grace,” he said. “We are called to renew our nation, not primarily by enacting laws, but by announcing the joy and hope of the Gospel of Jesus to individuals in desperate need of its Good News. It is our task to reclaim our culture — one mind, one heart, one soul at a time.”

Naumann gets his emphasis on love from past civil rights battles. “Martin Luther King Day and the March for Life celebrate equally self-evident truths 1) the sacredness of every human life, no matter age or stage of development; and 2) the dignity of every human person, no matter race or ethnicity,” Naumann wrote in his column for The Leaven  in 2022.

“Similar to proponents of slavery who predicted economic and social disaster for our nation if slavery was banned, legalized abortion advocates today make dire predictions of a negative impact upon women if the U.S. Supreme Court allows states greater latitude to regulate, much less prohibit, abortion,” he wrote.

There is no need to choose between the child and mother, he said. “In truth, once a child is conceived in the womb of a woman, the welfare and best interests of mother and child are intimately linked,” he said.

Above all, Archbishop Naumann argues that it is stronger families that will save unborn children.

Promoting Family Life

When he spoke of “interesting times” At last year’s Baccalaureate Mass, Naumann stressed the importance of defending the family at this unprecedented moment.

Pope Francis has always insisted that gender theory is an attack on the family, and Naumann listed just how far that attack has gone:

“We have redefined something as fundamental to society as marriage,” he said. “We deny that gender is something given to us and assert that we can defy biology by an act of the will claiming to be a different gender … These young people deserve not only our compassion but also our respect because they are created in the image of God and are of such worth that Jesus gave his life on Calvary. However, it is neither respectful nor compassionate to affirm them in what are delusions.”

Never one to shy away from controversy when something fundamental is at stake, Naumann made it clear that real compassion is needed for those who suffer from gender dysphoria or who are same-sex attracted. He stood up for the real work on behalf of those who suffer from AIDS when the Dodgers baseball team honored an anti-Catholic group of men in drag that mocks nuns.

“The real heroines for the care of HIV-positive patients are groups like Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, who operated AIDS hospice care facilities.”

As a baseball fan, Naumann said he had to weigh in.

“Tommy Lasorda would be appalled by the Dodgers actions,” he said, and remembered the times the Dodgers of his youth played against his hometown team, the Cardinals. “When Tommy was managing the Dodgers and they came to St. Louis, he would always give some of his complimentary tickets to Catholic Religious Sisters.”

A Personal Love for the Family

Naumann’s devotion to the family starts with his own. In 2020, when his mother Louise Naumann passed away at age 97, he wrote a beautiful reminiscence of her.

“I remember as a child thinking that my mother was the most beautiful woman on the planet. I suspect that many children think this about their mothers,” he said. “Her high school graduation and wedding photos only confirmed my bias about her physical beauty.”

But his admiration grew as he got older. “Gradually, through the years, I began to appreciate that my mother possessed a much more profound beauty. She was first and foremost a woman of great faith and heroic virtue,” he said.

“I give thanks to God for giving me such a beautiful mother,” he said. “When her body was wearing out, she never lost a beauty that was much greater than physical appearance. Next to Mary, I still think my Mom is the most beautiful woman.”

That personal love for family has fueled his efforts to work with Benedictine College’s Center for Family Development in promoting stronger families.

Naumann promoted the college’s John Paul II-styled Family Week, saying, “If you’ve never been to Benedictine College, it’s up on the bluffs of the Missouri River and it’s beautiful,” he said. “There’s been a real renaissance there and it would be a great place to spend a week with your family and be exposed to some of the best teaching and be around other families that share your passion.”

It stands to reason that he loves Benedictine College — he is an alumnus, of sorts. Arcbishop Naumann and George Weigel, who will speak at the April 1 event, both became honorary Ravens in 2012 when they received honorary degrees.

“I was grateful for the degree and also that from that day forward I could honestly say I was a classmate of George Weigel,” Archbishop Naumann joked. “He was Number 1 in the class. I was Number 2.”

Click here for more information about the April 1 event honoring Archbishop Naumann.

Images: Featured image, Archdiocese of KCK Facebook;
others, Benedictine College and St. Benedict Abbey.

By Tom Hoopes