WATCH: Colorado Catholic Conference Statement on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health

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The Colorado Catholic Conference is the united voice of the Catholic bishops of Colorado and serves to uphold the dignity of human life and the common good in public policy.

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Supreme Court Decision in Carson a victory for religious liberty, school choice

July 11, 2022

Supreme Court Decision in Carson a victory for religious liberty, school choice

July 11, 2022

Voting as a Catholic

As faithful Catholics, it is our calling to form the moral character of our community, our state, and our country. One way to do this is through voting.

Sanctity of Life

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Sanctity of Life

As Catholics, we are called to protect life at all stages from birth until natural death.

Marriage & Family

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Marriage & Family

Marriage is the cornerstone for society, and must be defined, recognized, and protected as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, and the source and protection of their children. Children must be valued, protected, and nurtured in their home and in society.

Religious Liberty

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Religious Liberty

Religious liberty is our first and most cherished freedom, rooted in the dignity of the human person across geographic boundaries, and central to the American constitution.

Economic Justice, Poverty, & Welfare

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Economic Justice, Poverty, & Welfare

Economic decisions and institutions should be assessed according to whether they protect or undermine the dignity of the human person.

Health Care

5

Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Health Care

Health care needs to be rooted in values that respect human dignity, protect human life, respect the principle of subsidiarity, and meet the needs of the poor and uninsured.

Immigration & Promoting Peace

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Immigration & Promoting Foreign Peace

Immigration in America requires comprehensive reform and promoting peace is an essential Church teaching for international relations.

Education

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Education

The Catholic Church embraces school choice programs, like vouchers, tax credits, and education savings accounts, that allow parents to choose the best education opportunity for their children with a portion of public funding that was allocated for their children in public schools.

Restorative Justice

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Restorative Justice

Criminal justice reform, caring for survivors of crime, combatting discrimination, and eliminating human trafficking are central to the Catholic Church's stance on restorative justice.

Energy & Environment

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Energy & Environment

Care for the environment and access to energy is a religious duty we share of stewardship and responsibility for future generations.

Technology

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Ten Catholic Priorities in Public Policy

Technology

The Church encourages parents to protect and nurture their children in a digital world that offers both benefits and dangers; the Church also supports legislation on technology that protects our children and promotes human dignity.

Action Alert

Call to Action: STOP HB 1279 RHEA: Radical Abortion Legislation

March 2022

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Most Reverend James R. Golka

Bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs

Bishop Golka is the fourth of ten children born September 22, 1966, to Robert and Patricia Golka. He was born and raised in Grand Island, NE. He graduated from Grand Island Central Catholic High School in 1985. He graduated from Creighton University in 1989 with degrees in Philosophy and Theology. He then spent one year as a Jesuit lay missionary volunteer at Red Cloud Indian School on the Native American Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

After applying as a seminarian for his home diocese of Grand Island, Bishop Golka enjoyed seminary formation at the St. Paul Seminary, School of Divinity, of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, where he received both a Masters of Divinity degree and a Masters of Arts degree in Sacramental Theology.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Grand Island on June 3, 1994. He has served as a Parochial Vicar and Pastor in various parishes. He has served the diocese in various capacities including Director of Ongoing Formation of Clergy, Chair of the Personnel Board, member of the Diocesan Finance Council, the Presbyteral Council, and as a member of the Diocesan College of Consultors. At the time of his election, he was serving as Rector of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Grand Island, NE. He was also serving as the Vicar General for the Diocese of Grand Island.

Bishop Golka says that he greatly enjoys the pastoral ministry which is provided in a parish setting. Working with people at all stages of life and allowing the gift of our Catholic faith to provide direction, support and new life is greatly rewarding. He also enjoys helping to provide ongoing formation events for the clergy of the diocese to care for the wellbeing of his brother priests.

Bishop Golka has worked with national consultants to better help parishes develop stewardship as a way of life. He has offered numerous retreats across the country preaching the blessings of ordering our lives in recognition that all we are and all we have is a gift from God. A guiding scripture passage is Psalm 116:12 which proclaims: “How can I repay the LORD for all the great good done for me?”

Bishop Golka was Ordained a Bishop in Colorado Springs on June 29, 2021. The Diocese of Colorado Springs has approximately 183,150 Catholics in 39 parishes and missions. The diocese has 82 priests, 85 Deacons and 15 men in seminary formation. The diocese and its parishes provide religious education and formation to more than 9,000 students. There is one private Catholic high school in the diocese that currently serves approximately 254 students, while an additional 1,325 students receive instruction through five parish-based elementary schools. In total, there are more than 5,414 Catholic youths under religious instruction in the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

Bishop Golka looks forward to continued growth and expansion in the diocese. With God’s grace and with the support of the faithful, the Diocese of Colorado Springs will know many more years of serving the mission of the Church in Colorado.

Most Reverend Bishop Jorge H. Rodríguez

Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver

Bishop Rodriguez was born March 22, 1955, in Merida, Mexico, located in the state of Yucatan. He is the son of Nery Maria Novelo and Ramon Rodriguez (deceased), and he has one brother and four sisters, who live in Merida. In Merida he attended a primary school run by the Maryknoll Sisters, and then secondary and preparatory schools run by the Marist Brothers. When he finished high school, he joined the Legionaries of Christ to study and become a priest. He was ordained Dec. 24, 1987.

He was awarded a Doctorate in Sacred Theology by the Gregorian in Rome in 1994. He also has a licentiate in philosophy from the same pontifical university, and a diploma in Mariology from the Marianum in Rome.

He was the dean of the Theology Department of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome (1994-1997). He has taught theology at the Pontifical Lateran University, at the Pontifical Institute Regina Mundi and at the Institute for Religious Sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

In 1999, he was invited by then Archbishop Charles Chaput to teach in the newly launched St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, and to serve as Associate Pastor of St. Therese Parish in Aurora.

In 2002, he returned to Rome to serve as Associate Pastor of Stella Maris Parish in the Diocese of Rome, but then returned to Denver in 2006 to be a professor at St. John Vianney.

From 2007-2014, Father Rodriguez served as vice-rector of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. He was incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Denver in 2008.

Since 2014, he has served as pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Thornton, Colorado, and he continues to teach the seminarians as well as the permanent diaconate candidates.

Pope Francis appointed Father Rodriguez as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver on August 25, 2016 and was ordained on November 4, 2016 on the feast of St. Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of bishops. He is also currently the pastor at St. Joseph parish in Denver.

He speaks Spanish, English and Italian, and reads French, and is the author of various theological publications.