Vatican City ? Pope John Paul II has accepted Archbishop James Keleher’s request to retire from the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kan., the Vatican said Saturday.

Succeeding Keleher, 73, will be Monsignor Joseph F. Naumann, who was installed in March as coadjutor bishop in the diocese of 200,000 Roman Catholics in 21 northeast Kansas counties.

Keleher, who has served as archbishop since June 1993, had asked the Vatican last year to appoint a coadjutor, to allow a smooth transition before he retired. Church law requires bishops at age 75 to submit a resignation from office to the pope, who may accept or reject it.

Keleher was known for his aggressive stance against abortion. Last year, he asked Catholic institutions under his jurisdiction to stop inviting politicians or others who favor abortion rights to speak or take part in other presentations.

When Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Catholic who supports abortion rights, took office in 2003, Keleher asked her to move an inauguration interfaith service from Topeka’s Assumption Catholic Church, which she attends in Topeka. She refused.

Naumann, 55, a native of St. Louis, has been a priest for 29 years and a bishop for seven years. He served as vicar general and vicar general for finance for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.