Knights of Columbus - Political Activities

Political Activities

In 1954, lobbying by the Order helped convince the U.S. Congress to add the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance. President Dwight Eisenhower wrote to Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart thanking the Knights for their "part in the movement to have the words 'under God' added to our Pledge of Allegiance." Similar lobbying convinced many state legislatures to adopt October 12 as Columbus Day and led to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's confirmation of Columbus Day as a federal holiday in 1937.

While the Knights of Columbus support political awareness and activity, United States councils are prohibited by tax laws from engaging in candidate endorsement and partisan political activity due to their non-profit status. In the election year of 1992, President George H. W. Bush appeared at the annual convention and President George W. Bush sent videotaped messages before he attended in person at the 2004 election year convention. Public policy activity is limited to issue-specific campaigns, typically dealing with Catholic family and life issues. When George W. Bush spoke at the 2004 convention, the assembled delegates chanted "Four More Years!" and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson thanked him for "supporting the right to life of unborn children" and "for restoring moral integrity to the office of the presidency." Bush's Democratic opponent, John Kerry, a Catholic and dissenter from the Church's teachings on abortion, was not invited to address the 2004 convention.

In the United States, the Knights of Columbus uphold the Catholic Church's positions on public policy and social issues. They have adopted resolutions advocating a Culture of Life, defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and promoting Catholic practices in public schools, government, and voluntary organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America. The Order also funded a postcard campaign in 2005 in an attempt to stop the Canadian parliament from legalizing same-sex marriage.

On April 9, 2006 the Board of Directors commented on the "U.S. immigration policy has become an intensely debated and divisive issue on both sides of the border between the U.S. and Mexico." They called "upon the President and the U.S. Congress to agree upon immigration legislation that not only gains control over the process of immigration, but also rejects any effort to criminalize those who provide humanitarian assistance to illegal immigrants, and provides these immigrants an avenue by which they can emerge from the shadows of society and seek legal residency and citizenship in the U.S."

In California’s 2008 election the Knights of Columbus attracted media attention when they donated more than $1.4 million to Proposition 8, becoming the largest financial supporter of Proposition 8 which succeeded in banning marriages between same-sex couples in the state. A group called “Californians Against Hate”, viewing Proposition 8 as a denial of civil rights and a promotion of inequality, has added the Knights of Columbus to their “Dishonor Roll."