Resolution on Building a Culture of Life

Resolution on Building a Culture of Life adopted by the 126th Supreme Convention on Aug. 7, 2008.

WHEREAS, The delegates attending the Order’s annual meetings have consistently and unanimously approved resolutions that affirm the Order’s commitment to building a culture of life by publicly opposing abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide and other offenses against life; and

WHEREAS, Members of the Knights of Columbus, in solidarity with our bishops and priests, have consistently sponsored programs that support and defend life from conception to natural death; and

WHEREAS, The late Pope John Paul II reminded us that the modern outcry on behalf of human rights is false and illusory “if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights, is not defended with maximum determination”; and

WHEREAS, Pope Benedict XVI has declared that it is “everyone’s duty to welcome human life as a gift to be respected, protected and promoted, even more so when it is fragile and in need of special attention and care, either before birth or when it is in its final stages”; and  

WHEREAS, The Church teaches that all Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teachings of the Church; and

WHEREAS, The Catholic tradition holds active participation in political life is a moral obligation, and that Catholics are called to promote the well-being of all, especially the weak, the vulnerable and the voiceless; and

WHEREAS, Pope Benedict XVI has stated that “Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of the grave responsibility before them, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature”; and

WHEREAS, During his apostolic journey to the United States in April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI reminded us that “any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of our lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel”; and  

WHEREAS, As Knights of Columbus we seek to support women who are in crisis pregnancies as much as we seek to defend the defenseless in our society;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That we renew our deep commitment to oppose any governmental action or policy that promotes abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide and other offenses against life, and that we will continue to speak out to our elected representatives about the need to enact legislation to oppose these practices and protect human life from conception to natural death; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we will continue our efforts to charitably inform, educate and motivate our brother Knights and fellow Catholics of the serious obligation they have to form their consciences so that they make sound moral judgments which support and defend life in all its stages; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we will challenge our fellow Catholics who are elected officials to be true to the faith they claim to profess, by acting bravely and publicly in defense of life, affirming with Pope Benedict XVI that “there can be no room for purely private religion”; and 

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we recognize that abortion not only results in the death of an unborn child, but also leads many post-abortive women and men into depression, anxiety and other emotional disturbances; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we believe that “women deserve better than abortion” and will continue to support programs which provide women facing crisis pregnancies with alternatives to abortion, including adoption, and that we support projects which provide spiritual support to those women and men suffering from the traumatic emotional and psychological after-effects of abortion; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Knights of Columbus will continue to uphold the teaching of the Church on the death penalty as explained in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and by the late Pope John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we reaffirm our commitment to building a culture of life by promoting policies that favor the family, and by recognizing that it is within strong and healthy families that moral values are taught and that the spiritual and cultural heritage of our nation is transmitted; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we reaffirm our long-standing policy of not inviting to any Knights of Columbus event, persons, especially public officials or candidates for public office, who do not support the legal protection of unborn children, or who advocate for the legalization of assisted suicide, euthanasia or other offenses against human life; and of prohibiting such persons from renting or otherwise using facilities over which we have control, or speaking at Knights of Columbus events, or bestowing on them honors or privileges of our Order of any kind, or inviting them to serve as honorary chairpersons of events, celebrations or committees, or hold any office in the Knights of Columbus; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, That we once again commit ourselves to pray, to do penance, to fast and to seek the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede on our behalf for the establishment of a culture of life.