Mark Levin, founding rabbi of Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, recently attacked Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in an opinion piece for the Kansas City Star over comments Naumann made saying President Joe Biden has made statements that are contrary to Catholic teaching.

"The belief in individual autonomy, control of one’s own body and fate, is inherent within American civil religion," Levin wrote. "Our local archbishop in Kansas sought to deny the Eucharist to President Joseph Biden because the president did not conform to church teaching regarding abortion. In other words … Archbishop Joseph Naumann sought to coerce the president for all Americans to conform to Catholic doctrine regardless of the various beliefs of American citizens, because the church believes it administers salvation, and Biden’s personal beliefs contradict church teaching."

Naumann notably denied Biden communion for his stance on abortion saying his pro-life actions are a “a grave moral evil.” 

Rabbi Mark Levin

“Because President Biden is Catholic, it presents a unique problem for us. It can create confusion. … How can he say he’s a devout Catholic and he’s doing these things that are contrary to the church’s teaching?” Naumann told The Associated Press at the time.

Levin's criticicism came after Naumann's a statement in The Leaven where he opined the Value Them Both amendment as necessary "after the Kansas Supreme Court declared abortion to be a virtually unlimited and unregulated right." 

The Kansas Supreme Court ruling is a "legal reality" that can't be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, Naumann said.

"In a cruel and ironic twist, Kansans now find themselves in the unenviable position of facing an even more ominous future with the specter of unlimited, late-term and taxpayer-funded abortions,” he said.

The Value Them Both amendment would not ban abortion in Kansas, but would leave the door open for lawmakers to enact protections — such as restricting second and third trimester abortions, which involve dismembering babies — and guarantee the right to informed consent, according to the Value Them Both Coalition.      

Congregation Beth Torah is a Jewish synagogue that was founded in 1988.