New archbishop talks predecessor, Royals and saying goodbye

by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Bishop Shawn McKnight of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri, didn’t sleep much the night of April 7.

The next morning, just before 5:15 a.m., the Vatican announced that he was to become the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.

“I was up around 3 in the morning,” said Archbishop-designate McKnight. “And then, a little after 5:30, my phone started blowing up because the Vatican website had posted the announcement, and people were getting it.”

Archbishop-designate McKnight had been anticipating the release of the big news since he accepted the position two weeks prior.

“There’s a lot of mixed feelings,” he said. “There’s a sadness in saying ‘goodbye,’ but there’s an enthusiasm and joy in saying ‘hello’ and getting to meet new people at a new place.”

The morning of April 8, he met with Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann at his Kansas City, Kansas, residence for Mass and a tour.

They — along with Father John Riley, chancellor and vicar general for the archdiocese; Father Anthony Saiki, rector of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Kansas City, Kansas; and Father Mike Hawken, pastor of Church of the Nativity in Leawood — visited Nativity, where Archbishop-designate McKnight will be installed as archbishop during a Mass on May 27.

He then arrived at the archdiocesan church offices building, where he had lunch before participating in a press conference with Archbishop Naumann and eventually meeting with chancery staff.

The archbishop-designate said he received a “very warm, inviting” welcome from the individuals he met that day.

He was also inspired by Archbishop Naumann’s leadership.

“He’s genuine,” said Archbishop-designate McKnight. “And his heart is in this archdiocese.”

Although he was born and raised in Wichita, graduating from Bishop Carroll High School in 1986, Archbishop- designate McKnight knew very little about the archdiocese before he was appointed its next archbishop.

“I drove through it,” he said, and stopped near the area for events like Kansas City Chiefs games.

“So when they took me to Church of the Nativity this morning,” he said, “it was the first time I got off the main highway and got into a neighborhood and got to see that — it was beautiful.”

To the relief of many at the press conference, the archbishop-designate shared that he’s a Kansas City Royals fan.

But baseball is not his only hobby.

Archbishop-designate McKnight’s episcopal motto is “Gratias Agamus Domino” (“Let us give thanks to the Lord”).

And a unique part of his coat of arms is the quail.

“I love to hunt quail,” he shared. “But it’s an Old Testament type of Eucharist, because God provided the Israelites in the dessert manna in the morning and quail in the evening.

“So, it has the connotation of God’s providence and blessing.”

The archbishop-designate also enjoys working out, reading — especially crime and mystery novels, as well as theological works — and spending time outside by his fire pit.

He prays the rosary every day. It’s his “bedrock,” he said, and his favorite devotions are the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

He appreciates “the concept of what the heart signifies” and the image of “God loving us with a human heart in Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop-designate McKnight is eager to get to know the communities and individuals of the archdiocese as he prepares to be their next archbishop here in the state where he grew up.