Resolution Supporting
the Kentucky Catholic
Bishops’ Position On the
Death Penalty
The Knights of Columbus Kentucky State Council, affirming its support of
the Catholic Bishops of Kentucky in their opposition to the death penalty and
calling for the abolition of it submit the following.
WHEREAS, Jesus calls us to love and forgive our enemies, and to reform our
hearts and lives, replacing anger and retaliation with reconciliation. (Mt. 5:21-
45). Recent statements of Pope John Paul II, the Catechism of the Catholic
Church, and Pastoral letters issued by the Catholic Bishops of Kentucky, all
teach that the use of the death penalty is immoral and urge us to live a
consistent ethic of respect for all life by opposing its continued use. And
WHEREAS, as Christian leaders we have a duty to foster unity with God and
forgiveness within the human family. We cannot uphold a practice that
deliberately removes some of the members from our human family by killing
them. The words of Eucharistic Prayer III, “In mercy and love unite all your
children wherever they may be,” include those on death row. It is impossible
to unite with those you intend to kill. And
WHEREAS, there is ample scientific evidence that the death penalty is
applied in a racially biased manner. Several studies by researchers at the
University of Louisville concluded that racial bias is a key factor in selecting
defendants for capital prosecution in Kentucky. And
WHEREAS, prisoner appeals have been severely curtailed, increasing the risk
of imprisonment and execution of innocent people. And
WHEREAS, life without possibility of parole is a sentencing option in
Kentucky since July 15, 1998. And
WHEREAS- the ever-increasing number of those who are wrongfully
convicted and released from death row clearly calls for the abolition of the
death penalty. And
WHEREAS, the Knight of Columbus has always and will always loyally
uphold, support, and defend the Magisterium of the Catholic Church;
therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that the Knights of Columbus State Council firmly
upholds the teachings of the Church concerning the death penalty as
articulated in Paragraph 2267 of the Second Edition of the Catechism of the
Catholic Church as follows:
Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been
fully determined, the traditional teachings of the Church does not exclude
recourse to death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively
defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.
If, however, non lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect
people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as
these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good
and in conformity with the dignity of the human person.
Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has
for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an
offense incapable of doing harm - without definitively taking away from him
the possibility of redeeming himself - the cases in which the execution of the
offender is an absolute necessity “are very rare, if not practically, non-
existent.”
Respectfully submitted,
James E. Roberts, State Deputy Gary B. Berkemeier, State Secretary
Gerald T. Roof, State Treasurer Dennis R. Harris, State Advocate
Kenneth S. Teasley, State Warden Charles E. Jones, Immediate Past Deputy
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