News

By Tim Waggoner

KANSAS CITY, April 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a recent interview with Catholic Action, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City addressed the recent appointment of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), warning of the potential for her and other Catholic pro-abortion politicians to lead members of the faith community astray.

As a member of his diocese, Gov. Sebelius, one of the nation’s most pro-abortion politicians, has in the past repeatedly disobeyed Archbishop Nauman’s requests that she refrain from receiving Holy Communion.

Archbishop Nauman recounted how last year he had not intended on disciplining Sebelius in the public sphere, but had “entered into a rather long dialogue with the governor over many months” attempting to explain to her the seriousness of her actions. 

It was only after she continued to present herself for Holy Communion, defying the archbishop’s numerous requests, that the he made the matter public.

“I informed her that I would make the request public because, in addition to my concern for her spiritual wellbeing, I was also very concerned about others being misled by her presenting herself as a faithful Catholic while holding positions that were completely contrary to our teaching on the sanctity of human life,” said Archbishop Nauman.

Nauman explained that his decision to discipline the Govenor did not come from a desire to influence politics, as some have suggested, but from a concern to protect his members of his diocese from scandal, that is, from being led to sin from the actions or attitude of another.

“It absolutely is and it is absolutely the main reason I feel it is important for me to speak at this time as she is put on this national platform. I think this allows the scandal to spread even farther than the borders of Kansas. It is a very deadly message that she and others are communicating by this active support for legalized abortion,” said the Archbishop.

Archbishop Nauman then addressed the fact that some Catholics believe the appointment of a Catholic to a high political position is something to be proud of and that Sebelius’ positive qualities should be the focus of discussion.   While he admitted that Sebelius has excellent leadership abilities, the Archbishop of Kansas explained that these are overshadowed by her promotion of legalized abortion and said that she, like other wayward Catholic politicians, is ultimately leading Catholics astray.

“In actuality, this just elevates to the national level another Catholic who is inconsistent in the practice of her faith,” said Nauman. “Now she is joining Vice President Biden, Speaker Pelosi and a whole raft of others in the senate and congress which I think are sending very confusing messages. It certainly is not a reason to rejoice to have yet another Catholic, in a prominent national position, sending a very confusing message to her fellow Catholics by her position on abortion.”

Nauman fears that Sebelius will only add to the growing culture of death permeating the US Government by negatively influencing “policies regarding health care in the country particularly as they impact the life issues,” but says this is an inevitable result of the American people’s choice of Barack Obama as president.

“Unfortunately, I think that anyone this president appoints is not going to be someone who is sensitive to the sanctity of human life. That is an unfortunate consequence of the choice of the American people in the last election.”

The archbishop concluded the interview by issuing a piece of advice to Catholic politicians:

“I would say that you have to be faithful to your Catholic principles.  If to be faithful means you cannot advance, then so be it. We really need principled people in both parties that are trying to move their parties to embrace a position that respects the sanctity of all human life.”

See the full article here:

https://catholicaction.org/our_bishops_speak/archbishop-joseph-naumann-discusses-the-pastoral-aspects-of-disciplining-the-governor-of-kansas-kathleen-sebelius-because-of-her-insistent-pro-abortion-stance.html