by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It was the end of a seminarian pilgrimage, and the travelers were eager to relax on the long bus ride home.
But like parents everywhere, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann’s role as a spiritual father didn’t end when the day was done.
“On the bus ride, he met with every single seminarian,” said Kelly Kmiecik, administrative assistant for the archdiocesan vocation office. “They would come up and sit with him and have a very personal, beautiful conversation.
“We’re all tired. We’ve been going all day long. And here comes the next guy, and [the archbishop is] ready to care and pour into whomever . . . like he was the first person he talked to all day.”
Those moments on the bus were something Melanie Savner, who held the administrative assistant role from 2005-20, recalled fondly.
“I don’t even know how it started,” she said, “but a guy would come up and ask [the archbishop] if he could talk to him, and he said, ‘Sure.’
“One by one, the guys would come. He was as interested and engaged with the 25th seminarian as he was with the first one.”
It was astonishing for Savner to witness.
“Most people need downtime,” she said. “You need time when you’re not talking to someone. You need time with yourself to process things.
“He never gets that, and that stamina amazes me.”
Each summer, Archbishop Naumann joined archdiocesan seminarians on an annual pilgrimage.
His example shaped the vocations of those men who are now serving as archdiocesan priests.
It starts with him
Father Dan Morris, director of the archdiocesan vocation office, said the seminarian pilgrimage was created to fulfill multiple purposes.
One is for the archbishop to get to know the seminarians and vice versa. It’s also a chance for the seminarians to get to know each other.
The trips are either to other states, to World Youth Day in another country or within Kansas. The former two show the men the history and universality of the Catholic Church, said Father Morris.
During their travels, the group tours basilicas, shrines and other Catholic sites. In past years, the men also participated in a service project.
Father Morris said the archbishop’s presence was unique.
“We have one of the most accessible bishops when it comes to his desire to get to know our men and be able to be a true father to them and be there for advice, wisdom, counsel — any of those things,” said Father Morris.
“It’s not like he’s checking in with a couple activities that we do on pilgrimage,” he added.
Rather, the archbishop was typically there the entire time, traveling, touring, serving with and walking alongside the seminarians.
“I think it’s sacrificial,” said Father Morris. “But it’s also born from that desire of ‘I’m not going to be an absentee father.’
“The model of what he wants his seminarians and future priests to be starts with him.”
Adventurous at heart
In their roles, Kmiecik and Savner often attended seminarian pilgrimages to keep things running smoothly.
During one in Louisiana, Savner found herself on a boat in a swamp holding an alligator.
“I just handed it to [Archbishop Naumann] because the [guide had] handed it to me,” she said, laughing.
Archbishop Naumann was always up for an adventure, said Savner.
Like the time he went hiking in New Mexico, despite warnings from an experienced hiker of the trail’s difficulty.
“You’re on slippery gravel, loose dirt, and you need someone to help you up a rock,” said Savner. “And he did it.”
Another time, out of a few activity choices, the archbishop selected mountain biking. One of the seminarians with him was now-Father Justin Hamilton.
“Justin commented that it was so cool to be riding a bike down the mountain with the archbishop,” said Savner. “The kid was in college at the time.”
Father Hamilton, now pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Overland Park, said Archbishop Naumann was an inspiration.
At World Youth Day in Madrid, the archbishop encouraged Father Hamilton and his fellow seminarians to have a prayer intention for the pilgrimage and offer up any sacrifices they made along the way.
“Having this perspective helped a lot when I found out that other seminarians were staying in a ritzy hotel,” said Father Hamilton, “and we were sleeping on a gym floor!”
Father Hamilton appreciated the archbishop’s humility and his willingness to travel with the group.
“He was very accessible on the seminarian pilgrimages I attended,” he said, “and I often found myself walking alongside him and carrying on casual conversations.
“This was a very powerful experience for me, especially as a new seminarian, because up to that point, I had limited interactions with bishops and almost never in a casual environment.”
As a seminarian, Father Luke Doyle, now chaplain of the KU Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and associate vocation director, was struck by Archbishop Naumann’s sense of humor, and the pride he had in the seminarians.
While studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, he told his fellow seminarians about going on a pilgrimage with the archbishop.
Those men were “shocked to hear that my archbishop went on a pilgrimage with his seminarians every year,” said Father Doyle.
“There were men in my class who knew that their bishop did not know them by name,” he continued. “I was blessed to be able to acknowledge that this was nowhere near my experience.
“My archbishop not only knew my name, [but] I had a personal relationship with him and had traveled with him to many holy sites around the country and the world.”
Father Doyle said those experiences with Archbishop Naumann have had a lasting impact.
“Now as a priest,” he said, “I very much appreciate what I saw modeled by him as I strive to be a spiritual father who is present and attentive to the men and women I am responsible for.”
Father figure
Kmiecik and Savner said that despite his status, Archbishop Naumann never took a shortcut during a seminarian pilgrimage.
“The one thing that amazed me is, the truth is, [the] archbishop could’ve flown to and from these places,” said Savner. “And he would get on the bus and ride for 12 hours or 16 hours.
“With his grueling schedule, it’s amazing. And that alone, that’s an action that speaks.”
Father Scott Wallisch was also inspired by the archbishop’s commitment to do “the same tedious, exhausting things that everybody else was doing.”
“What the seminarians are going through, he’s willing to go through to be with us,” he said, “because he knows that it’s not just being there in the location that’s important, but the journey is part of a pilgrimage.”
His example didn’t go unnoticed.
“I think that pays dividends in terms of the trust and relatability that his eventual priests have,” said Father Wallisch.
That level of presence has been a blueprint for other dioceses.
“So many bishops have been inspired to do something similar because of the fruit that has come from [the] archbishop’s time with his priests and seminarians,” said Father Wallisch.
Archbishop Naumann also had a profound impact on the lives of his own vocation team.
“I just grew to love him,” said Kmiecik. “He’s so fatherly. He’s so patient.”
It’s qualities like that, she said, that Archbishop Naumann passed down to the future generation of priests.
“I think they can’t help but be inspired,” said Kmiecik. “His love for them is evident.
“His love for the church, his ability to know them individually and love them as a father — those things really come through on the pilgrimage.”
Seminarian pilgrimages
2009 – St. Paul, Minnesota
2010 – Denver
2011 – World Youth Day, Spain
2012 – New York/Canada
2013 – La Crosse, Wisconsin
2014 – Santa Fe, New Mexico
2015 – New Orleans
2016 – World Youth Day, Poland
2017 – Colorado Springs, Colorado
2018 – Kansas City
2019 – Mexico City
2020 – Kansas City
2021 – Northeastern United States (Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts) “Early Church in America” theme
2022 – Wichita
2023 – World Youth Day, Portugal
2024 – Table Rock Lake/Branson, Missouri (leadership workshop)
