“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,” the resolution said.
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson had told delegates before the resolutions were approved that their fundamental responsibility is to build a culture of life.
“We will never waver in our efforts to protect innocent human life and we need no greater honour than to know that we have stood beside our most vulnerable brothers and sisters in their hour of need,” he said.
The Knights also resolved to call for “legal and constitutional protection . . . for the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”
The resolution described marriage as a natural institution, “based on ancient human values that have evolved over time into a unique and deeply rooted social, legal and religious institution.”
“The case for marriage is the case for family and no one is more suited to pursue that goal than the world’s largest family fraternal organization — the Knights of Columbus,” Anderson said.
The Knights also adopted resolutions regarding religious liberty, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, decency on the Internet and in the media, Catholic education and the United States’ Pledge of Allegiance. Among these were the resolutions to:
- support Catholic schools and encourage legislation and policies to establish parental choice in education through tax credits, vouchers and scholarships;
- encourage parents to foster a Christian atmosphere in their homes that allows them to openly discuss their concerns about the misuse of the Internet with their children;
- fight pornography and graphic sexual content in the media, and to use television, film and the Internet to promote family values and a healthy understanding of human sexuality;
- promote the Catholic Church’s understanding of religious freedom as an inherent right of all religious believers;
- support fellow believers around the world — especially in Iraq, the broader Middle East and Asia — who suffer religious persecution at the hands of hostile governments and societies;
- resist the trend to treat religion as a purely private matter and pledge support for those who have been intimidated or harassed as a result of expressing their opinions on public policy matters based upon their understanding of the Catholic faith;
- urge elected officials and judges to adopt laws and make judicial decisions that will protect the religious liberty rights of all citizens;
- challenge 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;”
- re-affirm the 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 honours or privileges of their 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.”
The texts of all the resolutions can be found at http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/convention_2008/resolutions/index.html.