Public Witness

This page contains testimony, CCK position statements, resolutions, homilies, and other resources prepared for use in public ways to promote the Church’s teaching on human life and social justice with the hope of influencing public policy. Witnesses generally appear before committees of the Kentucky General Assembly. Resolutions and other documents are generally distributed to the press and through various other means.

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Letters

• Text of Bishops’ Letter to Management and Union Representatives regarding settlement of strike of hospitals (Dec. 20, 2007 )
• Letter to Governor Steve Beshear regarding Medicaid Funding (Dec. 12, 2007)
• Letters urging support for the Protection of Marriage Amendment sent to Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Jim Bunning (select name to read letter) (May 10, 2006)
• Letters urging just and comprehensive immigration reform sent to Senator Mitch McConnell and Senator Jim Bunning (select name to read letter)(March 10, 2006)
• Kentucky Bishops write Governor Fletcher and urge him to adequately fund Medicaid in next budget and apply 2005 surplus to Medicaid now (Dec. 2005)
• Letters from Kentucky’s Bishops to Senator McConnell and Senator Bunning about Roe v.Wade litmus test in selecting Judges for the Federal Judiciary (May 2005)
• Bishops Urge Governor to Commute Thomas Bowling’s Death Sentence to Life Without Parole (Oct. 18, 2004)

Testimony

• Testimony supporting HB 70, restoration of voting rights to former felons automatically (Jan. 24, 2012)
• Testimony supporting SB 38 requiring face to face informed consent and an ultrasound (Jan. 14, 2010)
• Testimony Opposing HB 304 Regarding Undocumented Immigrants and Employer Sanctions (March 5, 2008)
• Testimony before House Labor and Industry Committee Supporting HB 378, an ACT related to minimum wage (January 24, 2006)
• Ed Monahan Testifies on Providing Lawyers for Poor Persons (May 2005)
• Testimony Before House Appropriations and Revenue Committee Supporting Fair Tax Reform: HB 276 and HB 277 (February 2005)
• Rev. Thomas (Tony) Smith Testifies on Cloning Bill (HB 138) (March 2002)
• Jane Chiles Opposes Death Penalty (October 2001)
• Rev. Pat Delahanty on Death Penalty and Mental Retardation (October 2001)
• CCK Urges State Earned Income Tax Credits (August 2001)
• Archbishop Kelly Urges Abolition of the Death Penalty (October 1999)
• Kentucky’s Four Bishops Support Partial Birth Abortion Bill (February 1998)

Position Statements

• Principles Being Used as CCK Evaluates Laws Regarding Sexual Orientation (June 2014)
• Position on HPV Vaccination and Parental Responsibility (August 2007)
• Health Care Is A Moral Right, A Safeguard Of Human Life and Study and Discussion Questions for Heath Care is a Moral Right (December 2005)
• A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice: A Kentucky Call to Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration (December 2004, revised December 2005)
• Principles of Taxation, Allocation of Revenue, Contributing to the Common Good (August 2004)
• Constitutional Amendment Promotes, Preserves, and Protects Marriage (August 2004)

Resolutions

• Louisville Deacon Community Statement on the Death Penalty
• Louisville Priest Council Calls For Abolition of the Death Penalty
• Owensboro Priests Urge Abolition of the Death Penalty

Homilies and Other Materials

• Keynote Address. His Eminence Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga at the National Migration Conference, Washington, DC (July 7. 2014)
• Freedom to Serve. Fortnight for Freedom Closing Homily by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (July 4, 2014
• Immigration Reform: Recognize that every many and woman is the image of God. This op-ed by Bishop John McRaith is another means by which the bishops hope to help Catholics understand the Church’s teaching about welcoming migrants and treating them justly. (August 2006)
• Statement on Separation of State Estate Tax from Federal Estate Tax (June 1, 2006)
• Homily of Bishop Ronald W. Gainer for Mass celebrated during the 2006 Catholics at the Capitol event (February 2006)
• Social Security: A Social Insurance Program that Helps the Elderly, Children and the Disabled—Article by Executive Director, Ed Monahan, discussing principles to apply when determining morality of proposed changes in the Social Security Insurance program. (March 2005)
• A Tsunami’s Coming to Kentucky. What Shall We Do?—Op-Ed on Tax-Reform by Executive Director, Ed Monahan (March 2005)
• Questionnaire for Congressional Candidates and results (color, B&W) (September 2004)
• Homily on Capital Punishment—6th Sunday of Year B (February 2000)
• False Mercy of Assisted Suicide by Archbishop Thomas Kelly, O.P.