Kansas City, Mo., May 28, 2008 / 10:50 am
Archbishop of Kansas City Joseph F. Naumann has further explained the motives for his public admonishment of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius for her support for legal abortion. The archbishop’s May 9 column, citing her recent veto of an abortion law reform bill passed by the Kansas legislature, had warned Governor Sebelius not to present herself for Holy Communion until she has publicly repented.
Writing in his column for the archdiocesan newspaper The Leaven, Archbishop Naumann repeated that Governor Sebelius must seek “to repair the public scandal of her long-standing support for legalized abortion.” He said he had personally received a number of letters both in favor and opposed to his actions regarding the governor. The archbishop explained that he was using his column to collectively respond to some of the critical letters he had received.
Addressing the question of why Governor Sebelius was “singled out” for public discipline, when others in elective office hold positions similar to hers, the archbishop said the governor holds the highest elective office in Kansas, making her “the most prominent Catholic in public life.”
Archbishop Naumann noted that his admonishments to the governor had begun before her veto of new abortion restrictions and added that his public request to her was not about any one action, but rather concerned her “30-year history of advocating and acting in support of legalized abortion.”