CV NEWS FEED // Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City and appointed Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, as his successor, the Vatican announced April 8.
The change in leadership was made public in Washington, D.C., by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
Archbishop Naumann, who reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 earlier this year, steps down after more than 20 years of episcopal service in the archdiocese.
In his final months in the role, Archbishop Naumann took a prominent role in opposing a series of public satanic rituals and events in Kansas. He consecrated the state to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and called on the faithful to pray for the “spiritual conversion of those taking part in this mockery of our Catholic faith and the beliefs of all Christians.” He also filed a lawsuit against the venue that hosted a satanic “black mass,” citing religious discrimination and the desecration of sacred symbols.
Archbishop Naumann recently comforted the faithful over the April 3 killing of Father Arul Carasala, a beloved priest serving at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Seneca.
“Father Arul was a friend to me and a great priest,” he shared in a Facebook post after offering Mass at Sainter Peter and Paul for the repose of Fr. Carasala’s soul. “I shared in my homily that being a priest today requires heroic love. That quality was evident in Father Arul, who left India to come to the heartland of America and serve the people of the Catholic Church in northeast Kansas.”
Bishop McKnight, a Wichita native born in 1968, led the USCCB’s Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations from 2010 to 2015. He has served as Bishop of Jefferson City, Missouri, since 2018 and will be installed May 27 as Archbishop of Kansas City.
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