Washington, D.C. - At its 121st annual meeting today, the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal organization, condemned efforts to deny Catholics the opportunity to serve on the federal bench because of their "deeply held beliefs." The action was taken in a resolution that called such efforts a de facto and unconstitutional religious test for public office.

The Knights' action comes in the wake of ongoing, and thus far successful, efforts by some U.S. senators to block votes on Catholic nominees to the federal bench because of their "deeply held beliefs."

"Opposition to a highly qualified Catholic nominee to the federal bench because of a 'deeply held belief,' consistent with Catholic teaching, that abortion is always a grave evil...amounts to a de facto religious test for public office," a resolution on the issue adopted by the Knights declared. The resolution further vowed that the Knights would "vigorously oppose any effort to deny Catholics the opportunity to serve their country on the federal bench because of 'deeply held beliefs' consistent with their Catholic faith."

Earlier, in a letter dated July 30, Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson wrote to Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch expressing concern that Catholics who adhere to the Church's teaching on abortion, and perhaps on other public moral issues as well, are being declared unfit for office.

In other action, the Knights of Columbus also adopted a resolution addressing the current controversy on so-called homosexual "marriage." The Knights resolved to "continue to support President Bush's initiatives to preserve the traditional definition of marriage," and to oppose any effort to alter the institution and sacrament of marriage to include unions between persons of the same sex."

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, with more than 1.6 million members throughout North America and elsewhere. Annually its members report raising and contributing to charity more than $128 million and volunteering more than 60 million hours of service.