Supreme Knight's Report

Knights and family members joined thousands in demonstrating their opposition to the liberalization of México City’s abortion laws at a March 25 rally in the capital.

One of our most important traditions throughout our 125-year history is that we do not, as an organization, become involved in partisan politics. Many prominent members have held political office. Al Smith, the first Catholic to be nominated for the U.S. presidency by a major political party, was a Knight, as was John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic to be elected president. In Canada, brother Knight Louis St. Laurent served as prime minister from 1948 to 1957. We are proud that men from our ranks have served at every level of government in all of the countries where we are organized. But our members belong to a variety of political parties, and the fact that we do not identify with any particular party respects that diversity among us.

This does not, however, mean that we take no interest in public policy issues. When an issue directly affects our most fundamental values as Catholics, such as abortion, or the institution of marriage, or public funding of embryonic stem cell research, as leaders in the Catholic community we must, and we do take a stand. This, too, is a proud tradition of the Knights of Columbus.

In the 1920s, when Oregon passed a law – at the urging of the Ku Klux Klan – that would have outlawed Catholic parochial schools, we funded litigation challenging the law all the way to the Supreme Court, where we won a historic victory.

Also in the 1920s, when the government of México launched a vicious attack on the Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus began a campaign in the United States to aid the Church in México and bring a halt to the persecution.

In the 1950s, as the Cold War gained momentum, we lobbied Congress to add the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance to emphasize to all the world that our rights do not come from the generosity of an absolute state, but from a much higher authority. And since the 1970s, when abortion was suddenly transformed from being an almost unspeakable crime to a supposed constitutional “right,” we have worked tirelessly to enact laws that would limit and ultimately end the unrestricted abortion license in the United States.

Canadian Knights, in partnership with their bishops and the Catholic Organization for Life and Family, have fought abortion on demand there. In México, the Philippines and Poland, international abortion rights groups are now putting on the pressure to recognize a similar access to abortion. In each of these countries, Knights stand on the front line to battle for the right to life.

And that is precisely where we will continue to stand.

We are the backbone of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and the Canadian March for Life in Ottawa. A few months ago, when the government of México City sought wider legalization of abortion, Knights there helped lead the public response. One newspaper said it was the first time the Knights of Columbus had marched in the streets there since the time of the Cristeros.

No matter the country or continent, we Knights of Columbus will never accept a society where innocent unborn children are victimized by abortion.

On this issue we have made our own the words of Winston Churchill, who said during some of the darkest days of World War II, “This is the lesson: Never give in, never give in, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small.” My brother Knights and ladies: On abortion, we will never give in.

We will fight on until the day when society once again protects the right to life of every unborn child. We applaud the U.S. Supreme Court for taking the first step in ending the regime of abortion on demand through its decision upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. This decision confirms and strengthens our resolve to continue to fight for the nomination and confirmation of justices who know that a judge’s job is to interpret the law and not to invent “rights” that are nothing more than an excuse to impose their own notion of proper public policy.

Last fall, we vigorously joined the battle in Missouri against a state constitutional amendment to fund embryonic stem cell research. Proponents who stood to gain financially from the amendment spent enormous sums of money on misleading ads. They won, but by a much narrower margin than had been predicted. But the battle is not over, in Missouri or anywhere else. We helped to win a significant victory in Delaware by defeating in the state House of Representatives a bill promoting embryonic stem cell research.

We provide major financial support to the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and major funding for the U.S. bishops’ pro-life education campaign. We will keep working with them to educate every citizen about the immorality of embryonic stem cell research.

On Dec. 5, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and Deputy Supreme Knight Dennis A. Savoie to his office in Ottawa.

One of the most difficult battles we face today is the threat to the institution of marriage. In Canada, just a day after my historic meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Parliament refused to reconsider Bill C-38, which legalized same-sex marriage. But Canadian Knights are not going to give up the battle.

In the United States last fall, Knights were instrumental in helping to win passage of state constitutional amendments protecting marriage in seven of the eight states where an amendment was on the ballot. Twenty-seven states now have constitutional protections for marriage, and referendums will be on the ballot in other states next year as well. In these efforts we have a simple strategy – trust the people to decide.

That is why in Massachusetts, Knights were in the forefront of a drive that gathered a record 170,000 signatures on petitions to put the issue of same-sex marriage before the voters. Yet the state legislature refused. The effort had been approved earlier in the year, but failed this time by five votes. With all their talk about democracy, legislators refused to trust the people – they refused to give the people of Massachusetts the final say.

Our goal will always be to pursue laws that protect the life and dignity of every person, and the integrity of marriage and family. We must pray for, and support, those of every party who stand firmly on the side of life and family. And we must also pray for those who know what is right, but who are weak when the moment of decision is at hand.

I know there are some – even some Catholics – who say it is time to put issues such as abortion behind us. But today, as we reflect on the great history of the Knights of Columbus – of brother Knights who through the years stood strong against the bigotry of the Know-Nothings and the Ku Klux Klan and during the persecution of the Church in México – when we remember this proud tradition, we have to ask: What kind of Catholics do they think we are? Is it possible that they do not realize that we will never cease to persevere against the evil of abortion?

This is not the first time that brother Knights have been called upon to defend our most fundamental values as citizens and as Catholics. When the harsh attack on the Church occurred in México during the 1920s, Pope Pius XI issued an encyclical “on the persecution of the Church in México,” [Iniquis Afflictisque], in which he offered “a word of very special praise” for “those Catholic organizations, which during all these trying times have stood like soldiers side by side with the clergy.”

Then he wrote these words: “First of all we mention the Knights of Columbus, an organization which…is made up of active and industrious members who, because of their practical lives and open profession of the Faith, as well as by their zeal in assisting the church, have brought great honor upon themselves.” Indeed, during these times more than 70 brother Knights lost their lives in defense of the Church in México. Six were canonized by Pope John Paul II and two more were recently beatified.

I can also report that on the occasion of the 2005 beatification in Guadalajara of Blessed José Rangel Trinidad and Blessed Andrés Sola, a third brother Knight was also beatified, this one a layman, Blessed Leonardo Pérez, a member of Council 1963.

Blessed Leonardo Pérez Council 1963

It was only recently that we were able to verify his membership through documents uncovered in México. Membership records from this period are often scarce or nonexistent. During the years of the persecution, two-thirds of our councils were destroyed and often mere membership in the Knights of Columbus could have been a death sentence. One Méxican priest told us that when troops would enter a city, first they would look for any priests and then they would search for members of the Knights of Columbus. And yet our brother Knights, in the words of Pope Pius XI, “stood like soldiers side by side” with their priests.

Blessed Leonardo Pérez was captured with Father Rangel and Father Sola – at prayer before the Blessed Sacrament – and with them he was executed by federal troops. We are now certain that all three were members of the Order.

In honor of these brave brother Knights, last year we donated $1 million to the Archdiocese of Guadalajara to help build a beautiful new Shrine to the Holy Martyrs of México. When completed, this shrine will be one of the great churches of the Western Hemisphere and will stand in loving memory of all who sacrificed their lives so that the Catholic faith would not be driven out of the land of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

St. Rafael Guízar Valencia Council 2311

We also remember St. Rafael Guízar Valencia. I was privileged to represent you in Rome when Bishop Guízar was canonized last October by Pope Benedict. A Mexican Knight and bishop of Veracruz, he suffered during the persecution and founded an underground seminary. He was known as the “Bishop of the Poor” for his charitable acts and determination to serve the people despite efforts to keep him from his ministry.

Our entire continent, indeed, has been uniquely blessed by the Mother of God. Last Dec. 12, I had the privilege of being present with brother Knights from México in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to celebrate the 475th anniversary of Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego.

There, the Blessed Virgin Mary began the greatest conversion to Catholicism in history. Mary, through her image left on Juan Diego’s tilma, has called millions to conversion in the Americas, and around the world.

And that conversion continues today. Of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Benedict XIV wrote: “To no other nation has such a wonder been done.” At the time he wrote those words in 1754, that nation stretched from the San Juan Islands north of Seattle through Central America. And thus Pope Pius XII was able to proclaim Our Lady of Guadalupe “Empress of the Americas.”

Therefore, the wonder that had been done was for all the people of our continent. We are all citizens of this continent.

Or better yet, we are all citizens of her continent. This is Mary’s continent – under the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Because of Our Lady of Guadalupe, our Church faces a bright future.

No other place on earth has as many practicing Catholics as the Americas. It is up to us – in our lives, in our homes, and in our families – to put our faith into practice. It is time that Mary’s Knights reclaim her continent for her.

Our Lady of Guadelupe

Under Mary’s protection and using our great principles of charity and unity, let us endeavor to build a culture of life and a civilization of love. I am also pleased to announce that at the conclusion of our 127th Supreme Convention in 2009, which will be held in Phoenix, our Order will hold its first-ever international Marian Congress, which will be devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Our Marian Congress, with the cooperation of the Diocese of Phoenix, will be a joyful celebration of how Our Lady of Guadalupe has blessed our hemisphere. We will ask the delegates to that Supreme Convention also to serve as the principal delegates to our Knights of Columbus Marian Congress. We will also invite participants from throughout the Western Hemisphere.

In every age, people of faith are tested in ways that are difficult to foresee. Each new generation must learn what it means to be a follower of Christ. For 125 years, Knights of Columbus have helped one another respond to the “yes” of Jesus Christ. We have faced prejudice, war, hardship, turmoil in society and turmoil in our Church, and we have faced all these things secure in the knowledge that by placing our trust in God we can and we will prevail.

We have succeeded in strengthening and protecting our families, caring for the poor and suffering, in building our Church and deepening our faith. By our example, we have shown our fellow citizens what it means to live lives of charity and love. We have kept faith with the vision of Father McGivney, and we have kept his promise.

In the years to come, we will face new tests that we cannot now imagine. I have no doubt that 125 years from now, brother Knights will look back and be inspired by our work – just as we are inspired by the men who have gone before us.

We will succeed because we understand the importance of Pope Benedict’s fundamental message in Deus Caritas Est: “Since God has first loved us, love is now no longer a mere ‘command’; it is the response to the gift of love with which God draws near to us.” We will continue to put our faith into action, witnessing to the “yes” of Jesus Christ.

Vivat Jesus!