Tuesday May 25, 2010
Knights of Columbus Respond to Complaints about Pro-Abort Members
By Kathleen Gilbert
NEW HAVEN, Connecticut, May 25, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Patrick S. Korten, the vice president for Communications of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, has issued a statement explaining why officials rejected a proposal to facilitate expulsion of pro-abortion and pro-same-sex “marriage” members. Korten said that the Catholic fraternal order would not second-guess the authority of bishops who have not excommunicated such individuals from the church.
Pro-life members of the Catholic fraternal order had proposed a resolution that officials grant power to local chapters to expel members publicly dissenting from Catholic church teaching on life and family issues. C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts lamented that the failure of the resolution “essentially kills any grassroots initiative in the Knights ofColumbus to get rid of the pro-abortion politicians in the K of C.”
Korten replied by saying that such a resolution would have overstepped the bounds of the Knights’ authority.
“Since our founding by Father Michael J. McGivney in 1882, membership in the Knights has been open to Catholic men at least 18 years of age who are ‘practical (that is, practicing) Catholics’ in union with the Holy See,” said Korten in a statement. “We leave the determination of who is a ‘practical’ Catholic to the Church, and do not presume to substitute our own judgment for that of the bishop of each diocese.
“If the bishop considers a man to be a practicing Catholic in good standing, the Order does not attempt to second-guess his decision.”
Korten stated that the beliefs of the Knights “are those of the Church, with no additions and no subtractions.” “Though we are saddened that not all of our members always live up to the Catholic faith, we are grateful that the vast majority do, and that they do so much good for the Church and society,” he wrote.
He continued: “Once a man becomes a brother Knight, our principles of charity, unity and fraternity require that we regard him as a brother in all respects, even when he may stray from the teachings of the Church. Our responsibility in such circumstances is to try to help him embrace the fullness of the Catholic faith.”
After outlining the many pro-life initiatives undertaken by the Knights of Columbus, who are regarded as a leading force in the pro-life community, Korten concluded by stating, “There are those who believe that our time, resources and energy could be better spent hunting down a handful of members who constitute the rare exception. We disagree.”