Brother Knights,

Here are some recent developments I want you to be aware of, for those of you not present at our business meeting last Wednesday.  

1) We approved the following charitable donations from our golf outing proceeds:

$1,000 to PrimeLife Enrichment - Emergency Assistance Fund (heating oil, etc.)

$1,000 The O'Connor House

$500 Great Lakes Project Gabriel

$500 Project Susan (W. Africa maternity house)

$1,200 The Lord's Pantry ($100 per month for meat purchase program)

$600 left, unallocated.   Will be determined later.   

2) Culture of Life Fund -- this fund was established at the Supreme convention in August and will be initially funded by a $3.00 assessment to the membership.   For our Council this will be approximately $570, a nonbudgeted item.   We cannot raise our dues in time for the December dues statements so we will suggest members voluntarily add $3.00 to their dues, if they choose.    Any deficit will be absorbed by the Council.   Members may also receive a personal solicitation from Supreme (some of us already have) but that is separate from the $3 per member Council assessment.  

Thanks and Peace,

SK Mark Peterson
Grand Knight
Bishop George A. Fulcher Council #12387

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Dear Brother Knights:

It is probably fair to say that no other single activity has defined the Knight of Columbus over the past half century as much as the pro-life movement. 

Following the shock of the Supreme Court's decision to preempt all state and federal laws regulating abortion in Roe v. Wade in 1973, we launched a long-term battle to fight legalized abortion.  While achieving the ultimate goal of overturning Roe remains somewhere in the future, we have been able to achieve many small successes along the way:

·  the Hyde Amendment, which restricts federal funding for abortions;

·  the federal law banning partial birth abortions, which was finally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in April 2007;

·   the "Mexico City Policy," which has barred the use of federal taxpayers' money to pay for abortions in other countries;

·   laws in 44 states that preserve a parental role when children under 18 seek abortions;

·   laws in 40 states that restrict late-term abortions;

·   laws in 46 states that protect the right of conscience for individual health care providers;

·   laws in 27 states that protect the right of conscience for institutions;

·   laws in 38 states that ban partial birth abortions;

·   laws in 33 states that require counseling before having an abortion;

·   and laws in 16 states that provide for ultrasounds before an abortion.

All of these restrictions on abortion - all of the progress we've made over the past 35 years in trying to limit and reduce abortions in the United States - would be invalidated with the stroke of a pen if the next Congress passes, and the next president signs, the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA).

Before you cast your vote on Tuesday, please take the time and effort necessary to learn whether candidates for whom you might vote favor or oppose FOCA.

The House sponsors of FOCA are listed here
The Senate sponsors of FOCA are listed here

Obviously, if a candidate in your area is not listed among the sponsors, you may have to ask his or her campaign for their position on FOCA.

We have gathered much additional information about the Freedom of Choice Act, including links to material from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and on life issues generally on a special Knights of Columbus web page:

Remember, all that we've done together since Roe to save the lives of the unborn is at stake.  Please pass on this message to your pro-life friends.

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The U.S. presidential election is now just days away and much is at stake,
especially in states where citizens will have a chance to vote to protect
marriage (Arizona, California and Florida), to prevent physician assisted
suicide (Washington), to protect the unborn (California, Colorado and South
Dakota) and to oppose embryonic stem cell research (Michigan).

Connecticut, the third state to suffer judicially-imposed same-sex
marriage, will decide whether to call a constitutional convention that
could give the people the power to amend the state constitution to define
marriage as between a man and a woman.

And of course, thousands of candidates will be elected to local, state and
federal offices, many of whom will have a voice in deciding whether to
legally protect life and marriage.

Because these issues loom so large in this year’s elections, I ask that you
encourage councils throughout your state to schedule a rosary at each local
parish on Saturday, November 1, 2008, to pray for divine guidance as these
critical choices are made on Election Day and to entrust the outcome to the
maternal intercession of our Blessed Mother, particularly under her title
“Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

This should be done in addition to efforts to remind Knights and their
families to pray the “Novena for Faithful Citizenship” encouraged by the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Links to more information and novena
prayers can be found on http://www.kofc.org

Finally, please remind your local councils that if they have not yet
completed preparations for their get-out-the-vote activities for Election
Day, action is needed now.

Thank you for making these efforts a top priority. Our ability to build a
Culture of Life will be significantly affected by the choices we make on
November 4, and the power of prayer is surely one of our most important
tools.

Fraternally,
Carl A. Anderson
Supreme Knight

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A couple that pulled back from the brink of divorce tell their difficult success story in a new podcast at www.fathersforgood.org.

Also new this month at the Fathers for Good site, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus:
·  A Catholic psychiatrist talks about 'My Wife, My Best Friend'.
·  A focus on the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux who will be beatified this month.
·  A new ballot to cast your vote for next month's topic.
·  A Facebook page that connects you to Catholics everywhere.

Visit www.fathersforgood.org

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New Haven, CT - September 23, 2008 -

A 30 second radio spot encouraging people to "vote pro-life" in the November elections begins running on radio stations around the United States today.  It will continue to air until the November 4 election.

The ad features the sound of an unborn baby's heartbeat at 10 weeks, and the voice of a woman saying, "Listening to this makes me wonder - why would anyone question that her life has begun?"  It concludes with the words, "Vote your heart. Vote Pro Life."

"The fact that the child whose heartbeat we hear is alive is simply a matter of science," Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said in announcing the beginning of the ad campaign.  "We believe that it is vital that America's pro-life community make it clear that they will reserve their votes for candidates of either party who are committed to protecting life from conception to natural death."

Anyone can listen to or download the ad from the Knights of Columbus website, www.kofc.org.

A similar ad is planned for broadcast in Canada, where general elections are set for October 14, 2008.

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest lay Catholic organization, with more than 1.75 million members in North and Central America, Asia and Europe.  Last year, Knights donated $145 million and more than 68 million hours of volunteer time to charitable causes.

Open Letter to Senator Joseph Biden on abortion

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson sent an open letter to Senator Joseph Biden on Friday, September 19, challenging the assertion of the vice presidential candidate that Catholic teaching on abortion is not clear.  The letter was published in USA Today, The Washington Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Wilmington News Journal, among others.

Writing "as a fellow Catholic layman," Anderson said that "statements that suggest that our Church has anything less than a consistent teaching on abortion are not merely incorrect; they may lead Catholic women facing crisis pregnancies to misunderstand the moral gravity of an abortion decision."

Anderson noted that the founders of the United States "believed that we are 'endowed by [our] creator with certain unalienable rights,'' and that first among these is 'life,'" and he appealed to Biden, "as a Catholic who acknowledges that life begins at conception, to resolve to protect this unalienable right."

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