Joseph Fred Naumann (born June 4, 1949) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas since 2004. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Louis in Missouri from 1997 to 2004.

Biography

Early life

Naumann was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Fred and Louise (née Lukens) Naumann. He graduated from St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South in 1967 and from Cardinal Glennon College in 1971. He then served as a deacon in Florissant, Missouri and completed his theological studies at Kenrick Seminary in Shrewsbury, Missouri.

Priesthood

Naumann was ordained to the priesthood on May 24 1975 for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. After his ordination, he was assigned as an associate pastor of St. Dominic Savio Parish in Affton, Missouri. Naumann was transferred in 1979 to become associate pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in St. Louis. In 1984, Naumann was placed as a part-time curate at Most Blessed Sacrament Parish in St. Louis, while working as Coordinator of the

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

Committee for the archdiocese. Naumann was sent in 1989 to Ascension Parish in Normandy, Missouri, remaining there for the next five years. He was named vicar general of the archdiocese in 1994.

Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis

On July 8, 1997, Naumann was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis and Titular Bishop of

Caput Cilla Caput Cilla, an Ancient city and former bishopric in Roman North Africa, is now a Latin Catholic titular see. Its presumed location are the ruins of El-Gouéa, in modern Algeria. History Caput Cilla was important enough in the Roman province of ...

by Pope John Paul II. He received episcopal consecration on September 3 1997 from Archbishop Justin Rigali, with Bishops Edward O'Donnell and

Edward Braxton Edward Kenneth Braxton (born June 28, 1944) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Belleville in Illinois, from 2005 to 2020. Braxton previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of ...

serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches, ...

. As auxiliary bishop, Naumann continued in his role as vicar general. He was named as Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese in October 2003.

Archbishop of Kansas City in Kansas

John Paul II named Naumann as the Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas on January 7, 2004, serving under Archbishop James Keleher. When Keleher resigned as archbishop on January 15, 2005, Naumann automatically succeeded him. Naumann sits on the committees on Pro-Life and on Communications within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) as well as Kenrick-Glennon Seminary

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

and the Board of Regents for Conception Seminary. He is also

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the Kansas Catholic Conference. On April 21, 2015, Naumann was also appointed Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Kansas City–Saint Joseph. He served in this role until November 4, 2015 when

James Vann Johnston Jr. James Vann Johnston Jr. (born October 16, 1959) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri since 2015. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Springf ...

was installed as bishop there. Naumann was elected chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities on November 14, 2017, defeating by a narrow margin Cardinal Blase Cupich. Naumann interprets Canon 915 as directing priests to deny communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights and euthanasia. He stated that he tried to persuade Kathleen Sebelius, then Governor of Kansas, to change her stand on abortion rights, and after her refusal in doing so, he denied her communion. Naumann's archdiocese later spent $2.45 million in support of an ill-fated proposed amendment to the Kansas constitution to remove its protection of abortion rights, which was defeated by a 59 to 41% margin. After sexual abuse allegations were made against Bishop John Brungardt of the

Diocese of Dodge City The Diocese of Dodge City ( la, Dioecesis Dodgepolis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church covering twenty-eight counties in Kansas. Pope Pius XII created the diocese on May 19, 1951. The Diocese of Dodge ...

in February 2021, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome directed Neumann to open a canonical preliminary investigation into them. As of January 2022, the investigation was still ongoing.

References

External links

Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naumann, Joseph Fred 1949 births Living people Clergy from St. Louis Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Roman Catholic archbishops of Kansas City in Kansas American anti-abortion activists Religious leaders from Missouri