QUEBEC, Aug. 5 /Christian Newswire/ -- Addressing the leadership and more than 1,000 members of the Knights of Columbus and their families at the organization's 126th Annual Convention being held in Quebec, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson highlighted the organization's accomplishments over the past year, and laid out a vision for a future in which values play a key role. The speech was also broadcast live throughout Canada and the United States on Catholic television network, and worldwide on EWTN radio and television.
Speaking after greetings to the Knights were heard from the Pope, via the Cardinal Secretary of State, and the presidents of the United States, Mexico, and the Philippines, Anderson highlighted the organization's remarkable charitable giving last year, which totaled more than $144 million and more than 68 million hours donated to charity by the more than 1.75 million Knights worldwide.
Anderson also called on Catholics to "shine a bright line of separation between themselves and all those politicians who defend the abortion regime of Roe v. Wade."
He added: "Imagine if this year millions of Catholic voters simply say 'no' -- no to every candidate of every political party who supports abortion." He added, "It's time we stop accommodating pro-abortion politicians, and it's time we start demanding that they accommodate us. What candidate or political party can withstand the loss of millions of Catholic voters in this election or the next?"
He concluded: "Catholic voters have the power to transform our politics. And if faithful citizens can build a new politics--a politics that is not satisfied with the status quo but one that is dedicated to building up a new culture of life. There are more than 150 million Catholics in North America, and if we stand together and demand better from our politicians, we can transform politics. And if we truly hope for a culture of life and a civilization of love, then we must first think, and then act, in new ways."
A complete transcript is available at www.kofc.org
