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.

Archbishop Naumann has also been a compelling witness for protecting life at all stages. He has consistently called for the end of the death penalty, a position made more compelling by his own personal story, and criticized the Trump administration for resuming federal executions in 2019. He has also referred to the Church’s teaching on human life and dignity to ground his advocacy on issues like immigration, criticizing policies that have contributed to human trafficking and also the failure to distinguish ordinary people seeking a better life from violent criminals.

In short, wherever human life has been threatened by modern-day manifestations of Moloch worship, Archbishop Naumann has been there to demand that we all choose life.

“There can be no sacred cows that impede taking steps to protect our children,” he wrote in a 2022 commentary for the Register, connecting the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, with other attacks on innocent life.

Archbishop Naumann has been unafraid to take this message to the loftiest heights of earthly power. In 2021, he said then-president Joe Biden should “stop defining himself as a devout Catholic,” given the former president’s support for abortion rights. And in 2022, he publicly supported San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s decision to bar then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi from Holy Communion over her abortion advocacy.

Adding to his track record of courageous leadership, Archbishop Naumann spent the weeks leading up to Pope Francis’ acceptance of his resignation combating a planned “black mass,” urging Kansas Catholics to pray and taking the Satanists to court.

Certainly, many of our bishops in the United States share Archbishop Naumann’s convictions about life and his willingness to boldly defend it. But perhaps no American Church leader’s ministry has been as wholeheartedly devoted to the cause. After all, the retiring shepherd chose Vitae Victoria Erit — “Life Will Be Victorious”— as his motto when he was first made a bishop back in 1997.

Because we are followers of Christ, who has already decisively defeated death, we know the idea expressed in Archbishop Naumann’s motto is true. Life wins; death loses. 

We also know that God calls us to participate in his life-giving work here on earth. And so we thank the Lord for Archbishop Naumann’s courageous promotion of life at all stages, and we pray that others in the Church will be drawn to imitate his witness.