.- Throughout the past year, the Knights of Columbus has fulfilled its mission through a strong defense of religious liberty and record-breaking amounts of charitable activity, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson announced.
Continuing in the long tradition of faith and charity that began with the organization’s founder, Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, the Knights have remained firm in their commitment “to preach the Gospel in word and deed,” he said on August 7.
Anderson delivered his annual report at the organization’s 130th Supreme Convention in Anaheim, Calif. With 1.8 million members around the world, the Knights are committed to the principles of charity, unity and fraternity.
One of the most important ways that the order has lived out this calling in the past year is in its adamant defense of religious liberty, Anderson explained.
He recalled the American founders’ commitment to religious freedom as a foundational liberty that comes from God.
“The history of Catholics in the United States is a history of defending religious freedom,” he said, adding that whenever this fundamental liberty is threatened, “we will vigorously defend it.”
Anderson then recalled that the Catholic Church’s interest in religious freedom is not something that began this past year, rather, it has been part of the Catholic experience “from the very beginning.”
