Amending Section 145 of the Laws of the Knights of Columbus

Substitute for Resolutions 45, 121, 223, 268, and 286

WHEREAS, 250 years ago on July 4, 1776, the delegates to the Second Continental Congress unanimously approved a Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”; and

WHEREAS, the new United States of America enshrined in its Bill of Rights that the federal government may not establish a religion or prohibit the free exercise of religion — a right that has regularly been tested over the past 250 years and, in the last century and a half, received a vigorous defense by the Knights of Columbus; and

WHEREAS, the Knights of Columbus was, in part, founded in response to the lapse in robust practice of this constitutional promise and fought back when the Ku Klux Klan, the Know-Nothing Party, and other nativists attempted to suppress the practice of Catholicism through laws targeting Catholic schools, the clergy, and other central practices of the faith; and

WHEREAS, amidst this bigotry of religious intolerance, the Supreme Council determined it was necessary to institute a Fourth Degree of the Order to further Father Michael McGivney’s vision of Catholics demonstrating the virtues of patriotism and strong citizenship, with its first exemplification taking place on February 22, 1900, in New York City, and with the Order recommitting itself to this mission 125 years later in an historic exemplification at St. Patrick’s Cathedral coinciding with the installation of a statue of Blessed Michael McGivney in the cathedral; and

WHEREAS, in 1954, following a successful lobbying campaign by the Order, the words “under God” were added to the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance, reminding all that the rights of Americans are truly “endowed by their Creator” and not by the state; and

WHEREAS, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the cousin of Archbishop John Carroll, S.J., the first Catholic Bishop in the nation, observed, “Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion…are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments;” and

WHEREAS, on June 11, 2026, the bishops of the United States assembled in Orlando, Florida, undertook — in the words of our Worthy Supreme Chaplain, Archbishop William E. Lori, who delivered an eloquent homily at that historic celebration — a solemn national consecration to “entrust to the Heart of Christ our achievements and failures, our hopes and anxiety, our present challenges and our future aspirations”; and

WHEREAS, through the auspices of France Territorial Deputy Arnaud Boutheon and Chaplain Father Pierre Amar, the Knights of Columbus was honored to receive from the Shrine at Paray-le-Monial the major relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the great Apostle of the Sacred Heart, which were brought to the national consecration in Orlando; venerated at the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center; and then brought on pilgrimage to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., for the Fourth of July; and then to the Baltimore Basilica, America’s first cathedral, prior to being present at this 144th Annual Supreme Council Meeting; and

WHEREAS, Knights of Columbus around the world are participating in a Pilgrim Icon Program honoring the Sacred Heart, which was providentially initiated amid the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart, and which has already brought together more than 2 million of the faithful in prayer; and

WHEREAS, devotion to the Sacred Heart was central to the spirituality and ministry of our founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, who was raised in an immigrant home wherein an image of the Sacred Heart was enthroned; who invoked the Sacred Heart in his personal handwritten correspondence; who promoted the Sacred Heart in his pastoral ministry, especially to the prisoner Chip Smith, who was reconciled before God prior to his execution; who purchased a statue of the Sacred Heart for the parish he served in Terryville, Connecticut; and who was finally laid to rest in priestly vestments with a depiction of the Sacred Heart.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Knights of Columbus recommits itself to the principle of patriotism in all countries where it is active to demonstrate that the duty to one’s country is both an expression of our Columbian Principles and devotion to our Heavenly Father; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that Knights of Columbus councils in the U.S., in response to the call of their bishops, are encouraged to offer 250 hours of adoration before our Eucharistic Lord and 250 works of mercy to make the love of Christ known to those in need; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge every Knight of Columbus in the U.S. and around the world to enthrone an image of the Sacred Heart in his home, entrusting his life and his family to the Merciful Heart of Christ.