Virginia Governor McDonnell Signs "Student Group Protection Act"

Bob McDonnell has done some bone-headed things over the last year-and-a-half to cost him FOREVER my once very outspoken devotion and support, but this outstanding action in support of religious liberty is NOT among them:

Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed legislation that prohibits public colleges from requiring student groups to adhere to so-called “all-comers” policies.

The Student Group Protection Act is designed to ensure freedom of association on campuses, said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg.

The new law gives religious or political student organizations at public institutions the right to define their doctrines. To the extent allowed by law, they also can limit membership to students committed to their missions.

The ACLU of Virginia and some student leaders had urged McDonnell to veto the bill, saying they feared it would allow groups to discriminate based on religion or sexual orientation.

However, the Family Foundation of Virginia praised McDonnell for signing what it called a common-sense measure that protects religious liberties.

The ACLU said the legislation was an effort to override a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a university’s right to require student organizations to abide by nondiscrimination policies. The ruling came in a challenge by a conservative Christian group in California that excluded gay and lesbian students.

This would mean that my alma mater, the University of Virginia, itself once a litigant in one of the most important Supreme Court cases in the area of student organizations and the First Amendment freedoms of speech, association, and religion, will be unable to, for example, deny official status to campus organizations who limit their membership to those who follow a set of religious tenets.

Writing at The American Catholic, The Motley Monk contrasts this approach with that taken by certain Jesuit institutions of higher learning such as Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Fordham:

Wouldn’t it be ironic if secular universities officially recognize Knights of Columbus councils as student clubs while Catholic universities—like Gonzaga, Georgetown, and Fordham—don’t because administrators have determined that the organization is discriminatory and noninclusive?

Heroic Judge Died Saving the Life of Another

Judge John Roll, a devout Catholic (daily Communicant and 4th Degree Knight of Columbus), died in the Tucson shooting while shielding someone else from the deranged gunman's bullets:

... The video, according to Richard Kastigar, the investigative and operational bureau chief of the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, also reveals that Judge John M. Roll appears to have died while helping to save the life of Ronald Barber, a Giffords employees. Mr. Barber, who was near Ms. Giffords when he was shot twice, has left the hospital.

[...]

Describing the video, Mr. Kastigar said the judge was “intentionally trying to help Mr. Barber,” adding, “It’s very clear to me the judge was thinking of his fellow human more than himself.”

The judge guides Mr. Barber to the ground, shields him with his body, and then tries to push himself and Mr. Barber away from the gunman, who was no more than three to four feet away as he fired, Mr. Kastigar said.

“He pushes Mr. Barber with his right hand and guides him with his left hand. The judge was on top of him and is covering up Mr. Barber, literally lying on top of him, and his back was exposed,” Mr. Kastigar said.

The judge was shot in the back...

“Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

~ Gospel of St. John 15:13


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Knights of Columbus Mourns Death of Judge John Roll in Arizona Shooting

Knights of Columbus Mourns Death of Judge John Roll in Arizona Shooting

From LifeNews.com:

The Knights of Columbus, a prominent Catholic group known for its pro-life work, is today mourning the death of one of the victims of the Arizona shooting Saturday.

In addition to the injury of Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Judge John Roll, who was nominated by former President George Bush, was killed along with five other people.

Roll, who was the chief judge for the District of Arizona, was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and was a charter member of a Knights council in his hometown.

Carl Anderson, the head of the pro-life Catholic fraternal order, today expressed “profound sadness” at the death of Roll and the others.He asked the 1.8 million members of the Knights of Columbus and their families to pray for the recovery of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 other people who were seriously injured in the attack.

[Read the whole thing]

Columbus Day: No Apologies [UPDATED]

Read Joe Hargrave's tribute to Columbus Day at The American Catholic:

Few days provide so great an occasion for an orgy of self-hatred (among the white elites) and faux moral outrage as Columbus Day. But long before communists, socialists, and their fellow-travelers seized control of our educational institutions and rewrote the history of the Western civilization – a revision which is force-fed to most students in our public reeducation centers – Columbus was celebrated as a great explorer and a daring adventurer who undertook great hardships to undergo the voyage that would lead to the discovery of the New World. Pope Leo XIII, on the 400th anniversary (1892) of that famous voyage, wrote of Columbus in Quarto Abeunte Saeculo:

By his toil another world emerged from the unsearched bosom of the ocean: hundreds of thousands of mortals have, from a state of blindness, been raised to the common level of the human race, reclaimed from savagery to gentleness and humanity; and, greatest of all, by the acquisition of those blessings of which Jesus Christ is the author, they have been recalled from destruction to eternal life.

Indeed, Columbus Day holds a special significance for Catholics, because it marks the beginning of the transformation of the Americas from a landscape of unbridled savagery, reaching its demonic apotheosis in the mass human sacrifices carried out by the Aztecs, to a hemisphere consecrated to Christ. Leo’s words also remind us of a truth that has been forgotten by some, rejected by others, and denounced in the modern and post-modern world, even by many Catholics: that without the light of the Gospels and incorporation into the mystical body of Christ (which is the Church), salvation is impossible to attain.

[Read the whole thing]

This pantload of PC crap was making its way around Facebook the other day:




UPDATE (12 October 2010)
See also Don McClarey's Columbus Day post at The American Catholic: Pope Leo XIII on Christopher Columbus

A New Play About the Founder of the Knights of Columbus

From the blog of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph:

The Knights of Columbus recently asked Father Peter John Cameron O.P., to direct a play about their founder, Father Michael J. McGivney. The Catholic Transcript interviews Father Cameron about his own vocation.

"Author, editor, journalist, playwright, theatrical artistic director, professor of homiletics, preacher, retreat master - the list of Father Cameron's titles, interests and vocational activities is extensive. The common thread is his vocation. "My priesthood and my evangelizing ... my preaching is first," he said in an interview with The Catholic Transcript. "I'm a priest so that others can meet Jesus Christ," he said. "I met him and I realized that life doesn't make sense without him. Every need and longing of our heart has an answer, and he's the answer. When Christ gazes at you, your life changes. His gaze is on everyone, just waiting for our answer.""

Read the full article here.

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Father Michael J. McGivney: A Saint for America

Decree on Heroic Virtues of Fr. Michael McGivney, Founder of Knights of Columbus

Health Care, Politicians and the Catholic Conscience

Catholic Online carries this Zenit article by Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus:

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (Zenit.org) - For decades, Americans have been subjected to the arguments of certain Catholic politicians who argued that while "personally opposed" to unjust policies like abortion, they were nonetheless unwilling to "impose" that view on the rest of the country.

The argument was disingenuous, premised on the fact that somehow a "Catholic" conscience had to be put to the side in the public square.

Now, the very people who argued that they couldn't bring their private conscience into a secular public square are poised to use the law to impose a particular view on their fellow Catholics.

By working and voting to include abortion coverage in health care legislation, several Catholic politicians stand at the precipice of being the deciding votes in forcing a particular immoral view on their fellow Catholics, by forcing them to fund abortion through their tax dollars.

While professing that they cannot impose their conscience on anyone else, these politicians seem to have little hesitation about imposing a political view -- one they claim to oppose in principle -- on the consciences of their fellow Catholics.

[...]

Catholic politicians must now consider the effect of national legislation mandating Catholic cooperation in abortion. In his famous pro-life encyclical, "Evangelium Vitae," Pope John Paul II said: "The passing of unjust laws often raises difficult problems of conscience for morally upright people with regard to the issue of cooperation, since they have a right to demand not to be forced to take part in morally evil actions."

He said further: "Christians, like all people of good will, are called upon under grave obligation of conscience not to cooperate formally in practices which, even if permitted by civil legislation, are contrary to God's law. Indeed, from the moral standpoint, it is never licit to cooperate formally in evil. […]

"This cooperation can never be justified either by invoking respect for the freedom of others or by appealing to the fact that civil law permits it or requires it. Each individual in fact has moral responsibility for the acts which he personally performs; no one can be exempted from this responsibility, and on the basis of it everyone will be judged by God himself".

[More]

Knights of Columbus Pass "Fishy" Resolution Opposing Any Health Care Reform That Funds Abortion

Quick! Someone report them to the White House!

Delegates to the 127th annual convention of the Knights of Columbus Aug.6 adopted a resolution declaring opposition to “any health care reform legislation that does not explicitly exclude abortion coverage for any health insurance plan, public or private.”

On Tuesday in his annual report to the convention, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson had sounded a similar note, saying, “Health care reform must be abortion free.”

The resolution on Defending the Right to Life also called on “legislators everywhere to adopt legislation protecting the religious conscience rights of doctors, nurses and other medical professionals, guaranteeing their right to refuse to participate in abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide or any other practice that is destructive of innocent human life or that conflicts with their sincerely-held religious beliefs.”

The resolution reaffirmed the commitment of the 1.78 million member Knights of Columbus “to unconditional support for the right to life and full protection in law for every human being from conception to natural death.”

Finally, the resolution restates the organization’s “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 protection of unborn children against abortion or who advocate the legalization of assisted suicide, euthanasia and other violations of the right to life.”

Former Ohio Faith-Based Director Pleads Guilty

Our old friend "Eamon" (a.k.a. Eric McFadden) has pled guilty to pimping an underage girl for prostitution over the internet.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
What Did Gov. Strickland Know, and When Did He Know It (re: Eric McFadden)? [UPDATED]

Breaking: Catholic Democrat Who Once Headed Up Ohio's Faith-Based Initiatives Arrested for Running Prostitution Ring [UPDATED]

Asking for an Ass Beating

(Hat tip: Mark Shea)

Disgusting behavior is rewarded rather than getting the ass beating it deserved:

For those who were shocked by Obama "faith" advisor Harry Knox knocking the Knights of Columbus, the Catholic men's group, as an "army of oppression," he is not alone. Gay activists are now taking pride in getting Knights charity drives crushed at supermarkets.

Metro Weekly, a D.C-based gay "news" magazine, honored a man for his "Storefront Stand" -- he harassed Knights of Columbus volunteers raising funds for the mentally disabled (usually with Tootsie Roll candies) outside a Safeway store in northern Virginia. Allison also succeeded in getting other Knights thrown off one Giant supermarket's property. To passers-by at Safeway, Brad Allison compared the Knights to the Ku Klux Klan: "It is a bit of an extreme point to be making, but I thought it was effective."

***
Each time the Knights of Columbus man would say, "Would you like to help disabled children?" I would speak up and say, "They are not helping disabled children. They gave $1.4 million to Prop 8 last year. Not a penny of that $1.4 million helped a single disabled child. They are a political group pretending to be a charitable group in order to get your money."

Again, over and over this worked. People put their dollars back in their pockets.

***
Metro Weekly also reported that Allison's complaints to a manager at a Giant supermarket at Greenbriar Town Center in Fairfax County were immediately successful in ending the Knights charity drive at that store...

[More]

(emphasis added)

My Comments:
I stood in front of a Wal-Mart for 2 hours on Saturday, on behalf of my local Knights of Columbus council, raising money for our local school for the mentally disabled.

If that guy had shown up at my location to harass me and slander the Knights of Columbus (not to mention deprive the mentally disabled of donations) in that manner, I'd have probably punched him in the mouth.

On the other hand, in this part of the country, his antics would've probably caused our donations to increase dramatically.

Obama Names Pope-Basher to Faith-Based Initiative Board

From Cybercast News Service:

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama has named to the federal government’s faith-based initiative a gay-rights activist who, last month, described Pope Benedict XVI and certain Catholic bishops as “discredited leaders” because of their opposition to same-sex marriage.

Harry Knox, who is a newly appointed member of Obama’s Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is the director of the religion and faith program at the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual activist group.

In addition to his remarks about the Pope, Knox also criticized the Catholic Knights of Columbus as being “foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression” because of the Knights’ support of Proposition 8. The latter was a ballot initiative that amended California’s state constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and passed in November 2008.

Knox told CNSNews.com that he “absolutely” stands by his criticism of the pope.

"The Pope needs to start telling the truth about condom use," Knox said on Monday, Apr. 6. "We are eager to help him do that. Until he is willing to do that and able, he's doing a great deal more harm than good -- not just in Africa but around the world. It is endangering people's lives.”

[More]

(emphasis added)

Just Like Sinn Fein

No doubt you've heard the media describe the Irish political party Sinn Fein as "the poltical arm of the IRA".

Well, now allow me to introduce you to the organization that - according to the Colorado Springs Gazette - serves as the "political arm of the Catholic Church".

GetReligion has the details.


(Hat tip: Opinionated Catholic)

Yesterday's March for Life in Norwalk

Photos here.

Aidan and Mary Virginia walked with me. In the photo below, Mary Virginia is in purple and riding on my shoulders.

Breaking: Catholic Democrat Who Once Headed Up Ohio's Faith-Based Initiatives Arrested for Running Prostitution Ring [UPDATED]

Breaking news from Dave Hartline at The Catholic Report.


UPDATE
Here are some links that Dave provides:

Former Ohio Faith Based Director & Well Known Liberal Catholic Eric McFadden Who Featured Prominently In The Presidential Campaign For Senators John Kerry, Hillary Rodham Clinton & Barack Obama Arrested In Major Prostitution Bust In Columbus. WCMH's Mike Bowersock Broke In During The Noon News Coverage Of The Snowstorm, That We Are Having, To Report That Columbus Police Said They Have The Man Who Was The Go To Guy For Prostitution In Columbus

Link To Eric McFadden's Letter To Carl Anderson Leader Of The Knights Of Columbus Demanding Anderson Resign For Suggesting Catholics Couldn't Vote For Obama Biden Because Of Their Pro Abortion Affiliation

2007 Link Announces Eric McFadden's Appointment By Ohio Governor Ted Strickland To Head Of Ohio Faith Based Initiatives

What a joke that this guy had the gall to call on Supreme Knight Carl Anderson to resign his leadership role in the Knights of Columbus for having the temerity to question whether Catholics should vote for the pro-abortion ticket of Obama-Biden.


UPDATE #2
Here's an interview the guy did with beliefnet last year: "Exclusive: Interview with Clinton's Chief Catholic Organizer".

The guy even interviewed Doug Kmiec for beliefnet this past October: "Kmiec Responds to Criticism on Abortion Reduction 'Scam' (From Eric McFadden)".


UPDATE #3 (15 January)
This is disturbing (Hat tip: Don McClarey):

The law has finally caught up with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good/Catholic Democrats sociopath Eric McFadden.

After many years of his stalking and psychopathic behaviors, I certainly will sleep a little more soundly at night knowing he has finally been exposed.

McFadden obsessively communicated (sometimes 20 or 30 times) the most bizarre, threatening/lunatic stuff, not only to me - but to Deal Hudson, and I'm sure other pro-lifers. Some of you may recall that once, during one of his compulsive psychotic periods of threats, I actually called the Ohio police, explained to them that his conduct was making me fearful for my life, my home, my children. They suggested I file a restraining order - which of course only makes criminally insane people all the more dangerous and I decided in prudence not to.

***
His communications to me were so sexually charged and threatening and along with his obsession with tormenting Deal Hudson, I always suspected there was self-loathing over some kind of sexual deviancy going on with him fueled by deranged malice towards women.

Ted Strickland is claiming to be shocked over McFadden's conduct, which I would characterize as untruthful and, I have the paper trail to prove it. I know for a fact that Strickland and his staff KNEW McFadden had a deep rooted and frightening sociopathy. Specifically, they were informed that his man particularly victimized and bullied women. Further, even though Strickland and his staff knew, they covered it up and shuffled him from their office to Hillary Clinton's national campaign. God knows how many women would have been spared McFadden's bondage if they had stepped up the plate and taken him out of commission when they had the knowledge he was a dangerous person. He used to claim Pelosi was the power behind him and would use her political power to bankrupt through false accusations, use the IRS to scrutinize your tax returns until they found something they could exploit to claim you were evading taxes, and various other delusions if anyone dared to call the police or expose him. He is a sicko.

***
I'm sure McFadden was confident Strickland and Clinton would cover his back as they had for many years - along with Patrick Whelan of Catholic Democrats, Chris Korzen, Alexia Kelly and other Democrats who were aware of this lunatic and kept him on the payrolls. Of course he was brazen.

Wow! On this basis of this report from Carol McKinley, I am fairly confident that Mr. McFadden may have commented at this blog on a number of occasions in 2006 and 2007 when I first began taking on Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good.


UPDATE #4 (15 January)
Is there something a little "off" about the Catholic Democrats response?

Upon hearing of the arrest, the organization, Catholic Democrats reacted saying that it is “sad news” that a “committed Catholic Democrat” has been arrested under such accusations.

(emphasis added)


UPDATE #5 (16 January)
Geniuses at The Huffington Post see the words "faith-based" and assume McFadden is a Republican. The original post said "Ohio GOPer Arrested for Running Hooker-Review Site". Upon learning of their mistake, however, the title was changed to "Ohio Pol Arrested for Running Hooker-Review Site". Got that? NOT "Ohio Dem", but "Ohio Pol".

Be sure to read the comments, which are a hoot. They all pretty much take on the tone of "Another Republican Christianist hypocrite ... Oh, wait. You mean he's one of ours? Never mind. Prostitution should be legal anyway."

(Hat tip: Collecting My Thoughts)

"Scaremonger" Priest Addresses FOCA at Knights of Columbus Meeting

Last night, during our monthly Knights of Columbus meeting here in Norwalk, our chaplain, Fr. Doug, addressed FOCA and its implications. As part of his presentation, Fr. Doug used this FOCA Fact Sheet, which is put out by the USCCB.

The USCCB fact sheet refers to the Freedom of Choice Act as the "most radical abortion legislation in U.S. history", and opens with this:

Myth: The Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) basically codifies the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade.

Fact: In allowing and promoting abortion, FOCA goes far beyond even Roe.

The USCCB fact sheet then goes on to describe in detail some of these additional assaults on what few protections the unborn do have left.

But wait. How can we believe our Bishops on this matter?

After all, we've been told that our U.S. Bishops and those priests (like Fr. Doug) who promote this view of FOCA and who warn of the impending disaster for the unborn that it represents are nothing more than "scaremongers". Meanwhile, held up in contrast to these "scaremongers", is Prof. Kmiec, who is cited as an "authority" for the proposition that, in fact, FOCA does nothing more than codify the judicial status quo. In other words, pay no attention to what your "scaremonger" Bishops and priests are telling you about FOCA; the guy who seems to have changed his views on virtually every important topic of the day in order to back President-elect Obama is telling us that the legislation that Obama claims would be his first order of business is really not such a big deal after all.

I suppose that helps some people sleep better at night.

Newsworthy Dads: Another Catholic in the House

From the Fathers for Good website put out by the Knights of Columbus:

Another Catholic in the House

As a surprise victor in the congressional district that includes New Orleans, Anh Joseph Cao is the “man of the hour” in the current news cycle. Yet with his strong family values and Catholic faith, which he learned before escaping as a boy from war-torn Vietnam, he could also be a candidate for “father of the year.”

After all, he knows that his role as father will last long after the media glare fades and he settles with his family in the nation’s capital as a first-term congressman from Louisiana in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“My family is the center of my life. I could not live without my wife and two daughters,” said the 41-year-old Cao in an exclusive Fathers for Good telephone interview. [The "C" in his last name is pronounced as "G"]

He was married in 2001 to Hieu “Kate” Hoang, and they have two daughters, Sophia (age 5) and Betsy (age 4).

The most memorable event of his fatherhood was the birth of his daughters, he said.

“To watch them grow into beautiful girls has been the joy of my life,” he said. “I enjoy coming home to my wife, and reading to my daughters and teaching them piano.”

Late Election

In an election delayed more than a month due to the effects of Hurricane Gustav, Cao defeated incumbent William Jefferson, who was hampered by corruption allegations but still outspent his opponent by a wide margin. Cao, the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to Congress, is also the first Republican to win Louisiana’s 2nd District since 1890.

A man who has been through much tougher battles than a congressional election, Cao is taking his newfound celebrity in stride, keeping his message simple.

“My mission in office will be to rebuild the 2nd Congressional District which was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and where many parts still need help,” he said.

Cao’s own home filled with eight feet of water during the 2005 storm, yet he and his family rebuilt and returned, only to be hit again by Gustav this past September, when more than a foot of water rolled into his house while he was serving as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

These are just two incidents in a personal history marked by struggles against tough odds.

In 1975, as the Southern capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, the 8-year-old Cao was separated from his parents and escaped with two siblings and an aunt, who pulled them aboard a U.S. military airplane.

He landed in Guam and later settled with relatives in the United States. His father, a South Vietnamese army officer, was imprisoned for eight years but was reunited with his family in the United States in 1991.

From the time he arrived here, Joseph Cao’s life has been a true American success story, written with hard work and intelligence. He learned English, settled in Houston, Texas, graduated from Baylor University and entered the Jesuits in hope of becoming a priest.

“I wanted to become a missionary and serve the people of God,” he explained.

He traveled as a Jesuit novice to many poor parts of the world, earned a master’s degree in philosophy at Fordham University in New York City, and in 1995 began teaching at Loyola, the Jesuit University in New Orleans. Soon afterward, he discerned that God was calling him to another mission field, and he left the Jesuit community.

He earned a law degree in 2000 from Loyola University and has served in New Orleans as an attorney and a community advocate.

Through all the challenges, his Catholic faith has been a rock of stability.

“My faith has been the center of my life all these years,” Cao said. “I go to church almost every day to discern what God is calling me to do with my life.”

Right now, Mr. Cao goes to Washington, as a Republican reformer.

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
I Didn't Know That ...

Young Faithful Catholics Jump into Political Ring

Jesuits Produce a Great Political Candidate

Member of Knights of Columbus Seeks GOP Chairmanship

Opinionated Catholic has a post about a Catholic who is also a member of the Knights of Columbus (and who once considered the priesthood as a vocation) who is seeking the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee.

Letter from Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson Regarding Tomorrow's Election

I received the following in an email on Friday:

Dear Brother Knight:

It is probably fair to say that no other single activity has defined the Knights 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.

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson: "Real Change" Entails Getting Rid of Roe

Delegates to Knights of Columbus Convention Adopt Resolutions Challenging Catholic Office-Holders

Nationwide Poll Shows 84% of Americans Favor Significant Restrictions on Abortion

From the Knights of Columbus:

A new nationwide poll shows that 35 years after the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Roe v. Wade, public support for the court’s unrestricted access to abortion throughout an entire pregnancy stands at just 8 percent.

The poll was conducted for the Knights of Columbus by the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion between Sept. 24 and Oct. 3, 2008, and was designed to enable comparisons of the views of Catholic voters with those of the general electorate.

The poll asked respondents to state which of six statements came closest to describing their opinion on abortion.

• 8 percent of U.S. residents chose option 1, that abortion should be available to a woman any time she wants one during her entire pregnancy;

• 8 percent chose option 2, that abortion should be allowed only during the first 6 months of pregnancy;

• 24 percent chose option 3, that abortion should be allowed only during the first 3 months of pregnancy;

• 32 percent chose option 4, that abortion should be allowed only in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother;

• 15 percent chose option 5, that abortion should be allowed only to save the life of the mother; and

• 13 percent chose option 6, that abortion should never be permitted under any circumstance.

The poll also revealed that only 15 percent of those describing themselves as “pro-choice” favored unrestricted abortion throughout a pregnancy. 71 percent of pro-choice respondents said they would restrict significantly restrict abortions. Of these 43 percent would restrict abortion to the first trimester and 23 percent would restrict abortion only to cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson described the poll results as “indicative of the fact that the term ‘pro-choice’ – when applied broadly – needlessly polarizes the discussion of abortion and masks the fact that there is broad consensus among Americans that abortion should be significantly restricted.”

Poll Appendix

See also A Beneath-the-Surface Look at Catholic Voters

A just-completed nationwide poll provides new insights into America’s Catholic voters, highlighting the ways in which they differ from the electorate as a whole. But the survey also examines in detail the ways in which the 65 percent of Catholics who practice their faith regularly differ from the 35 percent who do not.

***
Some of the most dramatic differences are found within the community of Catholic voters. 59 percent of practicing Catholics are pro-life, while 65 percent of non-practicing Catholics are pro-choice. Non-practicing Catholics are far more likely to be pro-choice than the population at large (65 percent vs. 50 percent). Only 30 percent of US residents favor same-sex marriage, while 46 percent of non-practicing Catholics do. 75 percent of practicing Catholics oppose same-sex marriage...

(emphasis added)

Headline Bistro Story: "Poll Finds Consensus Over Abortion, Draws Distinctions Among Catholics"

Columbus Day

A brother Knight remembers.

"Nonpartisan" Catholics United Attacks the Knights of Columbus

Darwin has the details and an excellent rebuttal:

... Let me reply, both as a fellow Catholic and as a Knight, to Chris Korzen and to James Salt, the "organizing director" who is the signatory to all the emails that go out from Catholics United:

Your attitude towards the open letter from Supreme Knight Carl Anderson is not only disappointing, it is deplorable. You and your organization should be ashamed of yourselves and of your politicization of Catholic teaching in order to support the most pro-abortion candidate ever to seek of the office of President of the United States.

Further, your attempts to attack McCain and uphold Obama on "pro-life" grounds are misguided to the point of being morally disgusting.

***
Moreover, it is doubly hypocritical for you to first attack Republicans for not agreeing with your opinions as to what specific policies are actually most conducive to the common good, and then denounce the Knights for asserting basic Catholic teaching about the morality of abortion. The truth can never be a distraction from the "real issues".

I assume that you are in earnest in your belief that progressive policies are most conducive to the Common Good. If you called yourselves "Progressives United" that would be all well and good. But to call yourselves "Catholics United" and then denounce those who put forth basic Catholic teachings, while acting as if your personal policy preferences have the stamp of doctrinal necessity is the height of dishonesty.

[Read the whole thing]

My Comments:
Amen, worthy Brother Knight.

Spelling out for Sen. Biden the Church's position on abortion is a "distraction from the serious and urgent issues Americans are facing"? Another worthy Brother Knight, Regular Guy Paul, is exactly right in pointing out the fallacy inherent in the "nonpartisan" Catholics United's criticism: As if the well-being and legal protection of the unborn isn't a "serious and urgent issue"!

That group should change their name to "Catholic Partisan Hacks United to Elect Obama".


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
"Nonpartisan" Catholics United Hits McCain with Ad Questioning His Pro-Life Credentials

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson: "Real Change" Entails Getting Rid of Roe

"Non-Partisan" Group of Catholic Obama Supporters Calling Itself "Catholics United" Gets Divisive

The Catholic Left Meets in Philadelphia

Convention for the "Common Good"

Bill Donohue: "How the Catholic Left Is Boxed in by Abortion"

Deal Hudson: "Catholics Organize to Elect Barack Obama"