Report of the Supreme Knight 2009

Faithful Citizenship

Consistent with the guidance of the U.S. Bishops Conference in their document “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” and similar materials from other national bishops conferences, the Knights of Columbus responds to their “Call to Political Responsibility” on a limited number of issues that are of fundamental interest to faithful Catholics. This involves action only on nonpartisan public policy issues, and never involves endorsement of candidates for public office.

Last fall, we joined with the Catholic bishops in three states – California, Arizona and Florida – in encouraging passage of state constitutional amendments to define marriage as between one man and one woman, and all three amendments were approved. In fact, it is generally conceded that we probably made the difference in California, and we can be very proud of our role there.

Georgia Knights of Columbus present a new ultrasound machine to the Women’s Enrichment Center in Dalton, Georgia on the Day of the Unborn Child, March 25, 2009.

We also joined with the bishops of Washington in opposing an assisted suicide measure, and with the bishops of Michigan in opposing a measure that supported embryonic stem cell research. Unfortunately, both of those measures were approved, reminding us that there is much work to be done in educating the public on these important issues of life and death.

In Connecticut and Iowa, state supreme courts brushed aside centuries of established law and created a newly-discovered “right” to same-sex marriage without regard for the clear language of their state constitutions and the opposition of a majority of the people of those states. In Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, state legislators similarly ignored the will of the people and enacted same-sex marriage statutes. In New York, a similar effort to enact same-sex marriage legislation was narrowly averted. In Maine, Knights worked with Bishop Richard Malone and the Diocese of Portland to gather more than 55,000 signatures to allow voters in November to restore traditional marriage laws.

In our home state of Connecticut, there was a serious effort to move legislation that would have stripped the bishops and priests of the state of any administrative authority over their own churches. We joined with the Connecticut Catholic Conference in opposing this blatantly anti-Catholic legislation, and we carried the day. The bill was withdrawn, and legislators learned quickly that we will always fight for our constitutionally-guaranteed religious liberties.

We were also able to win passage of an amendment providing religious liberty protections to a bill implementing the Connecticut Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage. Vermont and New Hampshire have adopted similar language, providing at least some protection for all who have religious objections to same-sex unions.

Since our last meeting, the Knights of Columbus has made possible two important conferences in Rome, one on the subject of “Universal Human Rights and the Challenge of Diversity,” and the other on “The ‘American Model’ of Religious Freedom.” We are grateful to former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon, who as the sponsor invited us to play an important role in these conferences.

In his new encyclical, Pope Benedict makes clear that all true charity begins with valuing human life. That means welcoming each new human life and sustaining our concern for the well-being of every person throughout his or her life.

“Openness to life is at the center of true development,” the pope reminds us. And he continues, “The acceptance of life strengthens moral fiber and makes people capable of mutual help.”

The Knights of Columbus remains firmly committed to defending the right to life of every human being, from the moment of conception to natural death. But the task ahead of us is even more formidable this year than in the past.

At the United Nations, the U.N. bureaucracy and its allies in pro-abortion Non-Governmental Organizations have applied increased pressure on heavily Catholic countries like the Philippines, Mexico and Poland to legalize abortion.

But there is a landmark shift taking place in public attitudes toward abortion, and it is the result of the hard, patient work you’ve been doing for more than 35 years.

Working with the experts at the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, we have confirmed a dramatic shift in public attitudes on abortion. Late last year, we discovered that 84% of Americans would significantly limit abortion and that only 15% of those calling themselves “pro-choice” favored abortion at any time during a pregnancy. In fact, 71% of pro-choice respondents said they would significantly restrict abortions.

Since our poll last October, other polling firms have finally confirmed the trend that we first identified. On May 15 of this year, Gallup announced that 51% considered themselves pro-life, “the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking the question in 1995.” Subsequent polls have confirmed that there has been a significant shift among Americans to the pro-life position.

Just a few weeks ago, the latest Marist College/Knights of Columbus Poll not only confirmed these trends, but found a major shift among Americans, with an 11% change in favor of the pro-life position between October 2008 and July 2009.

Many things have contributed to this dramatic shift in public opinion.

Not only does the annual March for Life in Washington have an impact when it brings hundreds of thousands of people to the nation’s capital each January, but the marches and walks for life that have sprung up in other cities from coast-to-coast are having an impact too. The March For Life in Ottawa has grown dramatically in recent years, and when the Deputy Supreme Knight and I participated this year, it was obvious that there is a tremendous surge in pro-life determination in Canada as well. Not only did pro-lifers turn out in large numbers in a driving rain, but there were also marches in nearly every Canadian provincial capital as well.

In short, our long-term strategy of working to change hearts and minds on abortion is working. And ultimately, the will of the people matters.

Knights played a major role at the annual Canadian March for Life in Ottawa on May 9, 2009. Other marches were held in provincial capitals throughout Canada.

We anticipated the opportunity that the latest polls have now identified when we voted last year to establish a new Culture of Life Fund. This fund will allow us to weigh in whenever opportunities present themselves, and this will be a tremendous advantage.

The new fund has enabled us to have a significant impact in many areas, both in providing additional resources to groups like the Sisters of Life, Birthright International, Project Rachel, the National Life Center and the National Catholic Bioethics Center, as well as projects closely associated with the bishops of the United States and Canada, including the U.S. Bishops’ Pro-Life Secretariat and the Catholic Organization for Life and Family in Canada.

The Culture of Life Fund has also enabled us to get new projects off the ground quickly, like the Ultrasound Initiative, in which the Supreme Council matches state and local council contributions for ultrasound machines for crisis pregnancy centers.

The first ultrasound machines were donated to the Choices Medical Clinic in Iowa City, Iowa, and the Women’s Help Center in Jacksonville, Fla., on the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade in January of this year.

Since then, Knights of Columbus ultrasound machines have been presented to the Women’s Enrichment Center in Dalton, Ga.; the Problem Pregnancy Center in Worcester, Mass.; Tomorrow’s Hope Pregnancy Center in Paris, Tenn.; the Care Pregnancy Center in Baton Rouge, La.; the Center for Women in Jackson, Mich.; and Life Choices in Kearney, Neb.

The Ultrasound Project saves lives. Up to 90% of women considering abortion choose to have their baby after seeing an ultrasound image. They hear their baby’s heartbeat, they see their baby’s head and fingers. They know that it is a child, not a “choice.”

And here’s the best part: you can’t change that decision for life by an executive order. It can’t be reversed by a court decision. Once the baby is born, mother and her baby have won. The Culture of Life has won. All of us have won.

Today, we say to “pro-choice” advocates, “Why not allow women to make an informed choice with the help of the latest ultrasound technology?” And to all those who say that they want to reduce the number of abortions, we say, “Come join us in a program that can reduce abortions by perhaps as much as 90%.”

We will work to put at least one ultrasound machine in every jurisdiction in the Order this year.

We should make sure that crisis pregnancy centers have all of the resources they need, not just from our ultrasound program, not just from our Culture of Life Fund, but in the form of supplies and volunteer time from Knights and their families in thousands of councils in communities large and small. Many mothers who decide to have their children will need help after the child is born. Building a Culture of Life will necessarily mean helping them then, too.

My brother Knights, we have heard much talk lately about seeking “common ground” on abortion. That will not be easy. But public opinion polls show that there is real common ground: If people were allowed to choose, 86% of the American people would choose to significantly restrict abortion. In our search for common ground, let us start there.

I am sometimes asked, “Why do the Knights stand so firmly in defense of the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of the sanctuary of human life – marriage and the family? Why not move on to other matters?” The words of Shakespeare from his play Henry V always come to mind: “The sum of all our answer is but this: We would not seek a battle as we are; Nor, as we are, we say we will not shun it.” (Act III, Scene 6)

My brother Knights, we have just ended the Year of St. Paul, and so it is fitting that we follow in this great saint’s footsteps. “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Heb 12:1).

Let us, like St. Paul, say that we too have fought a good fight, have finished our course, and have kept the faith, that we too may claim “a crown of righteousness” not for ourselves, but for those not yet born but who will be born because of what we have done (2 Tim 4:7-8).

I began these remarks with a discussion of this year’s convention theme: “We stand with Peter.” Perhaps some of you were thinking at the time, “Well, of course we stand with Peter. That’s what Catholics, and especially Knights, are supposed to do.”

But to stand with Peter implies something profound. Peter is the rock on which our Church is built. And when we stand with him, we stand on the firmest of ground.

We, the Knights of Columbus, have always stood with Peter.

Supreme Chaplain Bishop William Lori and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson present Pope Benedict XVI with $1.6 million in annual proceeds from the Vicarius Christi Fund in October 2008.

Beginning in the 1920s, we stood with him in building sports facilities for the youth of Rome. In the 1950s we stood with him in the creation of the Vatican Film Archive in St. Louis. More recently, we stood with him in our substantial support of the restoration of St. Peter’s Basilica, and each year we stand with Peter by supporting his charities through our Vicarius Christi Fund. Beyond this, we stand united to him in our prayers.

Because of this, we never stand alone. In standing with Peter, we also stand shoulder to shoulder with our priests and bishops, in solidarity with them.

In a special way this year, we stand with Peter. Charity is the first and most important principle of our Order. From the moment we become First Degree Knights, we understand that for us, the practice of charity will always be tied to Christ. “It is,” Pope Benedict says, “a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth.”

As Pope Benedict wrote, “Charity rejoices in truth,” and that “truth is the light that gives meaning and value to charity.” So once again, my brother Knights, we will stand with Peter, this time on the first principle of our Order.

Earlier this year, speaking to the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus, Pope Benedict urged us to “defend the moral truths necessary for a free and humane society, including the fundamental right to life of every human being.”

This is why we stand for the right to life.

This is why we stand for ethical business practices.

This is why we stand for helping the intellectually disabled.

This is why we stand for helping our neighbor in need.

We stand with Peter. And there is no place we would rather stand than on this rock.

Vivat Jesus!