Political activity of the Knights of Columbus
The political activity of the Knights of Columbus deals with the involvement of the Roman Catholic fraternal Order to influence public policy to promote its interests. The Knights of Columbus have taken an active political role even from the early days of its foundation. In the years following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, the earlier focus on protesting discrimination against Catholics shifted to more activity to promote social issues. During much of the 20th century and particularly during the period of the Cold War, the Order was active politically in opposing  anarchism, communism and socialism, especially within the United States. However, it was more supportive of trade unionism, the protection of Catholic civil rights, and some efforts to address racism. More recently it has taken an active conservative stance on social issues and lobbied for conservative political causes - strongly opposing efforts to introduce same-sex marriage, abortion rights, birth control, and loosening controls around divorce. But the Order has also taken an interest in the rights or immigrants and refugees, especially those coming from Catholic-majority countries. Military engagement. First World War. On 14 April 1917, soon after the United States  entered World War I, the board of directors for the Knights passed a resolution calling "for the active cooperation and patriotic zeal" of its members as part of the US war effort. The Order subsequently instituted a per capita tax on the membership to raise $1 million to provide for the welfare of troops fighting in Europe. Local councils also undertook their own fundraising drives which resulted in an additional $14 million. Canadian knights took up the cause even earlier, reflecting their closer links to Britain. In 1918, just before the war ended, the Knights joined other organizations  in raising funds to support the welfare of the troops both in the US and overseas, which along with the contribution of the National Catholic War Council, totaled $30 million. Staff and Catholic chaplains were sent to all Army camps and cantonments. A total of 260 buildings were erected and 1,134 secretaries (of which 1,075 were overseas), staffed them. In Europe, headquarters for the Order were established in London and Paris under the motto "Everyone welcome, everything free." This continued until November 1919, at which point the federal government took over. The remaining $19 million was used to  establish educational programs for returning servicemen. According to Supreme Knight Flaherty, the war provided an opportunity to present the Order "in a most favorable light," and to show that Catholics could also be good patriots - avoiding the suspicion that their loyalty lay with the Holy See in Rome. Cristero War. Following the Mexican Revolution, the new government introduced a number of anti-clerical measures to reduced the disproportionate influence of the Roman Catholic Church - such statutes were inserted into the national Constitution, beginning a 10-year struggle with Catholic leaders. During this period there were deaths on both sides, including  several priests who were also Knights (some later canonised. Leaders of the Order were active in speaking out against the Mexican government. "Columbia", the official magazine of the Knights, published articles critical of the regime - the November 1926 cover showed some knights carrying a banner of liberty and warning of "The Red Peril of Mexico." The Mexican legislature went on to ban both the Order and the magazine. In 1926, the Massachusetts State Council in the US passed a resolution opposing the actions of the Mexican government. Shortly after, State Deputy Edmund J. Brandon sent a telegram to President Calvin  Coolidge and Frank B. Kellogg opposing the deportation of a Mexican archbishop. That same year, a delegation of Supreme Council officers met with Coolidge to share their concerns. The Order went on to take a role in smuggling into Mexico pamphlets in English and Spanish denouncing the actions of the government, provoking efforts at the border to stop the flow. Twenty-five people would later be canonized by the Catholic Church, including six Knights. Supreme Treasurer Daniel J. Callahan persuaded Senator William E. Borah to launch an investigation in 1935 into Mexican human rights violations. Pope Pius XI in his  encyclical "Iniquis afflictisque" praised the efforts of the knights in their resistance. Spanish Civil War. During the Spanish Civil War, the Catholic Church in the United States supported General Francisco Franco and the other rebels. The Knights, and other Catholic groups, took the same stance. When a group of American intellectuals formed the Board of Guardians for Basque Refugee Children and proposed shipping children from Spain to the United States, the Knights with others opposed the plan. They appealed to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to keep the children with their families in France, though they were ready to assist those  coming to the United States. The Knights supported the embargo on all arms into Spain, and appealed to Will H. Hays, chairman of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, to ban or label as propaganda (pro-Marxist and anti-Catholic) loyalist films. World War II. Shortly after entering the Second World War, the order established a War Activities Committee to keep track of all activities undertaken during the war. They also, in January 1943, established a Peace Program Committee to develop a "program for shaping and educating public opinion to the end that Catholic principles and Catholic philosophy  will be properly represented at the peace table at the conclusion of the present war." The committee conferred with scholars, theologians, philosophers, and sociologists and proposed a program adopted at the 1943 Supreme Convention. Cold War. During the Cold War, the foreign policy of the United States and the Knights' promotion of Catholic Social Teaching frequently intersected. The Knights urged the UN to restrain the Soviet Union during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. In the 1950s, The Knights successfully lobbied President Eisenhower to not invite Josip Broz Tito, leader of Yugoslavia, to visit the United States, in view of his  jailing of Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac. At the 1953 Supreme Convention, the delegates adopted a resolution calling for a united Ireland. The Supreme Council adopted a resolution in 1969 endorsing the aims and justice of the Vietnam War, but as the war progressed "Columbia" magazine began to question the effectiveness of the United States' military effort. In Massachusetts, the State Council passed resolutions in the early 1960s calling on the Catholic Church to prevent the spread of communism in Latin America and opposing communist China from joining the United Nations. Middle East. During the Syrian and Iraqi Civil Wars, the Knights  lobbied Congress to provide humanitarian relief to persecuted Christians and victims of genocide under the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and to declare the atrocities a genocide. Testimony provided by Supreme Knight Anderson before Congress in 2016 formed the "blueprint" for the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018. Between 2014 and 2017, the Knights' Refugee Relief Fund gave over $20 million for humanitarian relief work in the area. That includes $2 million to rebuild the primarily Christian town of Karamles in Iraq. Such efforts of the Knights have been recognized by church  and civil leaders. Exhibits and media. Shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Knights' museum showcased Vatican artifacts highlighting the efforts of Pope John Paul II for world peace. The order also produced the 2018 film, "John Paul II in Ireland: A Plea for Peace". Trade union support, and anti-communism. In 1914, in line with the encyclical "Rerum Novarum" of Leo XIII, the Knights sponsored free lectures in North America in support of trade unions, reaching some 2,000,000 people. After the second world war they directed their efforts to align with the threat of communism then prevalent in  the United States. In December 1946, they launched a "Crusade for the Preservation and Promotion of American Ideals" that drew an endorsement from President Truman. This formed just a part of the larger Catholic anti-communist effort and would lead to the establishment of discussion groups in over 1,300 local councils. In 1947 they initiated a "Safeguards" series on several hundred radio stations, explaining "the harshness of life in Communist Russia". They also took out advertisements in newspapers promoting Fulton Sheen's book "Communism and the Conscience of the West". However, the Crusade also listed 10 "Abuses of Unrestrained Capitalism ." and promoted the rights "to a job, to a family living wage, to collective bargaining and to strike". Political action in relation to social issues. Opposition to same-sex marriage. As part of their public policy efforts, the Knights of Columbus promotes the Catholic view of marriage as a "lifelong union of one man and one woman", which excludes people of the same gender. Since 2005, the Knights have given at least $14 million to legally retain this definition in the United States, specifically to exclude its extension to gay couples. In 2008, they were the largest single donor  in support of California's Proposition 8. In 2012, the Knights and its local councils contributed $1 million to support similar ballot campaigns to effectively block same-sex marriage in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington. In Massachusetts it led the drive to collect the 170,000 petition signatures to amend the Massachusetts Constitution to include this definition. Likewise in Canada, in 2005 it attempted to stop the Canadian parliament from legalizing same-sex marriage with the "Civil Marriage Act", the order funded a campaign that included 800,000 postcards encouraging members of parliament to reject the measure. Opposition to divorce. The  order also supports the church's teaching on divorce, and the Supreme Council gave their "strong support" to a 1976 address by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin in which he denounced the "increasing practice" of divorce. The Order has a number of initiatives to support and strengthen families as part of their Building the Domestic Church program. The promotion of fatherhood and marital harmony dates back to the founding era of the order. Opposition to abortion. The Order has been active in opposing any government action or legislation that extends abortion rights, making clear that those "who do not support the  legal protection of unborn children" cannot be invited to events, or have honors bestowed upon them. Additionally the Order has donated significant funds to causes that limit abortion. For example, as part of their Ultrasound Initiative in the US and Canada, 1,000 ultrasound machines were donated to pregnancy centers between 2009 and 2018, This was done on the basis of research that suggested women would subsequently be less willing to go through with an abortion if they had seen ultrasound images, particularly as part of foetal development. The Order also supports women in "crisis pregnancies" with adoption. Protection of  civil rights for Catholics and other minorities. Up until the First World War, the Order were active to reassure that Catholic immigrants to the US could nevertheless be loyal to their new home, and would opposed restrictions to immigration throughout the middle of the 20th century During the 1920s, the state councils initiated letter-writing campaigns and established lobbyists in state capitals and in Washington, D.C., to protect the civil rights of all Catholics within the United States. In 1921, Edward F. McSweeney, set up the Knights of Columbus Historical Commission to more clearly present the role of Catholic immigrants  in particular in the founding and history of the United States. James Malone, then Kansas State Deputy, argued that those who claimed that immigrants and Catholics were inferior to native-born Americans and protestants were "bigots". Immigrants and refugees. In the years prior to World War I, Canadian Knights established an immigrant aid bureau. After the war, and with the Catholic Women's League, they promoted a "Canadianization of the Newcomer" program. The Knights have also promoted the idea that being a good Catholic can be reconciled with being a good Canadian, and have helped Catholic immigrants assimilate into wider  society. At the request of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, Supreme Knight Martin Carmody wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 to support Jewish refugees seeking refuge in Palestine. During the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress, a donation was made by the Order in Canada to Marc Ouellet's foundation to support long-term programs to aid immigrants and refugees. At the 129th Supreme Convention in 2011, José Gómez criticized the United States' immigration policy as not being "worthy of our national character," and told the delegates to approach the immigration issue as Catholics, not  through political affiliation. In 2013, Gustavo Garcia-Siller called on the Knights to bring the light of the Gospel to the "desolate places" which he argued included immigrant detention centers. William Lori noted that the mission in regards to immigration was growing, and cited the involvement in the 2012 "Ecclesia en America" summit as way to "protect, love and help immigrants". In 2016 the Knights provided funding to the dioceses of Ciudad Juárez and El Paso to facilitate Pope Francis' visit to the US-Mexican border which highlighted the plight of migrants from majority-Catholic Mexico, and the need therefore  to work for "just immigration laws." The Order has also supported the creation of by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of an Arab Christian Council within Canada as adding "new meaning to the international fraternal organization’s outreach and support of immigrant communities." The council is largely made up of first-generation Canadians from Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq. The Order has also set up councils to support immigrant communities in Miami for Cuban exiles, a Ukrainian council, and a Vietnamese council in Toronto. Engagement against racial discrimination. During the First World War, the Order set up a  series of "huts" to free offer rest and recreational facilities for Allied servicemen, African-American soldiers were permitted to use these, in contrast to other areas of American society where segregation was common. During the 1960s, in line with the wider US Civil Rights Movement steps were taken to reduce racial discrimination both within the Order itself as well as wider society. The Order had an influential advocate in President John F. Kennedy, who was himself a member. More recently, in 2017 Supreme Knight Anderson co-authored a piece in "Time" with Eugene Rivers calling on Americans to adopt Martin  Luther King Jr.'s principles of non-violence in a time of rising racial tensions in the United States. Resolutions. On 9 April 2006 the board of directors commented on the "U.S. immigration policy [which] has become an intensely debated and divisive issue on both sides of the border between the U.S. and Mexico." They called At the 136th Supreme Convention in 2018, the order adopted a resolution criticizing the Trump administration family separation policy. The Supreme Council called on the administration to "equitably balance the legitimate rights of persons to emigrate in order to seek better lives for themselves  and their children, with the duty of governments to control migration into their countries so that immigration policy serves the common good." Engagement within the United States. During the early part of the 20th century, both the Supreme and local councils found themselves in agreement with the principles of the Progressive movement. Senator Albert J. Beveridge, an intellectual leader of the Progressive movement, was the featured speaker at "a grand patriotic demonstration" at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and James C. Monaghan, the Supreme Lecturer, frequently spoke out in favor of progressive causes in "Columbiad" and elsewhere. The Massachusetts State Council  was supportive of New Deal policies in 1933. In the 1980s, the Knights supported an amendment to the United States Constitution permitting prayer in public school. When president Ronald Reagan attempted to tax fraternal insurance companies such as the Knights of Columbus, then–Supreme Knight Virgil Dechant used White House connections to scuttle the effort. In addition, local councils set up phone banks and letter writing campaigns to oppose the measure, which would have diminished the Knights' ability to make charitable contributions. Pledge of Allegiance. The Order played a role in the early stages of the movement that eventually led  to the decision by the US Congress to add the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. Louis Albert Bowman, an attorney from Illinois, was actually the first to suggest this addition and it was used in the 1940s at meetings of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution However, the Knights also adopted the practice following the Fourth Degree Assemblies in April 1951. Though the words had not yet officially been added nationally, the order added the phrase to their recitations, the first group to voluntarily do so on a regular basis. Doing  so, the Order believed, would acknowledge "the dependence of our Nation and its people upon the Creator of the Universe." The Knights forwarded a resolution advocating for the addition to New York Congressman Edmund Radwan, and Radwan entered it into the Congressional Record on 25 March 1953. The Presbyterian minister, George MacPherson Docherty, was nevertheless the instrumental figure in getting Congress ultimately to act – giving a sermon in 1954 which captured the political attention of President Dwight Eisenhower. But it was Rep. Charles Oakman (R-Mich.), who introduced a bill into Congress in 1954. After signing the change into law , Eisenhower nevertheless wrote to Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart thanking the Knights for their part. In 2014 when the American Humanist Association sued to reverse the decision, lawyers from the Knights and other organizations successfully supported schools that used the phrase in the pledge. Promotion of Christopher Columbus. At the behest of the Knights, the US Congress appropriated $100,000 to construct the Columbus Fountain in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C., in 1912. Similar lobbying convinced many state legislatures to adopt 12 October as Columbus Day, confirmed by President F. D. Roosevelt as a federal holiday in 1937 . Confirmation hearings of Brian Buescher. In October 2018, then President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate longtime Knights' member Brian Buescher, to be a Federal Judge on the U.S. District Court. During Buescher's confirmation hearing in December, Senator Mazie Hirono raised concerns about the position of the Knights around social issues, describing them as "extreme", and asked Buescher directly if he intended to end his membership "to avoid any appearance of bias." Senator Kamala Harris likewise raised concerns that the beliefs of the Knights would influence Buescher's legal pronouncements in a conservative direction. Buescher clarified that he  was only eighteen when he had joined. Writing in the "Los Angeles Times", Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin argued that these questions amounted to a "religious test" which is precluded by the US Constitution, and set a "troubling precedent of intolerance...for people of all faiths who seek a role in public service". In February 2019, Buescher's nomination was narrowly confirmed by the Senate. Other countries. In Canada, by 1910 the Knights were seen as "those laymen who could successfully defend the Church from external opposition when required and, more importantly, could voice the opinions and teachings of the Church, bringing  them to bear of the problems of Canadian society." Toronto Council 1388 established a public affairs committee in 1912 that was mandated to increase the interest of Catholics in public affairs and to promote their participation in political life. In the Philippines, local Knights campaigned against government sponsored birth control and condom advocacy.