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february 2012 ♦ Volume 92 ♦ Number 2

COLUMBIA F E AT U R E S

8 Saving Jesus in Montana A statue of Christ in a national forest, Knights argue, is an historic landmark, not a constitutional problem.

BY BRIAN DOWLING

14 Envisioning Religious Liberty The U.S. bishops, assisted by the faithful, will work to combat current and future threats to religious freedom.

BY SUPREME CHAPLAIN BISHOP WILLIAM E. LORI

18 A Crisis of Freedom An interview with Thomas Farr about the status and importance of religious liberty around the world.

BY ALTON J. PELOWSKI

20 Guarding Our House A K of C marshal service in the Philippines defends worshippers from potential terrorist attacks.

BY FERDINANDH B. CABRERA

23 Solidarity in Little Saigon Knights and members of the Vietnamese Catholic community support their persecuted brothers and sisters.

BY ELISABETH DEFFNER

A judge’s bench and gavel are pictured in a U.S. courtroom, featuring the words “In God We Trust,” the national motto officially adopted in 1956.

D E PA RT M E N T S 3

Building a better world

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In our families and communities, we are called to be missionaries of the new evangelization.

BY SUPREME KNIGHT CARL A. ANDERSON

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Learning the faith, living the faith At the heart of the Gospel, we encounter Jesus, his mission and his message.

Thinkstock

BY SUPREME CHAPLAIN BISHOP WILLIAM E. LORI

Knights of Columbus News City of Rome Names Plaza for Knights of Columbus • Vatican Secretary of State Thanks Order for Work in Rome • Pope Benedict XVI Receives Supreme Knight • Knights Mourn Passing of Cardinal Foley

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26

Knights in Action

32

Columbianism by Degrees

Fathers for Good We can teach our children, from a very young age, the values of fidelity, charity and patriotism.

BY BRANDON VOGT

PLUS Catholic Man of the Month

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E D I TO R I A L

The First Freedom SPEAKING TO the Vatican Diplomatic Corps Jan. 9, Pope Benedict XVI noted that religious freedom is “the first of human rights, for it expresses the most fundamental reality of the person.”

The right to religious liberty is likewise known as the “first freedom” in the United States, in part because it is the first right listed in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This placement is not a coincidence. James Madison, who is known as the Father of the Constitution, wrote in 1785: “It is the duty of every man to render to the Creator … homage and such only as he believes to be acceptable to him. This duty is precedent, both in order of time and in degree of obligation, to the claims of civil society.”

Catholic teaching and America’s founding principles seem to agree that religious freedom deserves primacy in society. Despite this agreement, however, there are different opinions today about the place of religion in public life.

Disputes about religious freedom affect everything from the constitutionality of a statue of Jesus erected by the Knights of Columbus on a Montana mountain (see page 8) to the federal government’s apparent disregard for the conscience rights of religious citizens and institutions (see page 14). In light of contemporary challenges, including those that have affected Catholic agencies and hospitals in recent months, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in September 2011 established an Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, chaired by Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.

In many parts of the world, violations against religious freedom are less subtle.

Confronted by extremist ideologies or atheistic authoritarian regimes, there are many people who suffer violent persecution because of their religious beliefs (see page 18). Some K of C councils have responded directly to these acts of violence. In the Philippines, for example, Knights serve as volunteer marshals to prevent terrorist attacks at the cathedral in Cotabato City (see page 20). And in Orange County, Calif., Knights raise awareness of the injustices that Catholics suffer at the hands of Vietnam’s Communist government (see page 23). In doing so, they demonstrate not only the importance of religious liberty, but the value of religion itself. In the words of Pope Benedict, religiously motivated violence does not reflect “the true nature of religion. It is the antithesis of religion and contributes to its destruction.” Authentic religion, on the other hand, defends and promotes human dignity.

Whether religion is the target of violent persecution or is merely marginalized, such as when universal moral principles are rejected in the name of “separation of church and state,” violations of religious liberty have one thing in common: they disregard man’s transcendent nature, what Pope Benedict called “the most fundamental reality of the person.” It is God, not the state, who ultimately grants this dignity and the right to express our first freedom. Our task today is to bear witness to this.♦ ALTON J. PELOWSKI MANAGING EDITOR

National Catholic Prayer Breakfast – April 19 THE 8TH ANNUAL National Catholic Prayer Breakfast will take place Thursday, April 19, in Washington, D.C. The event will feature keynote speeches on the topic of religious liberty by Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, apostolic nuncio to the United Nations, and Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson. For more information, or to purchase tickets to the event, which is sponsored by the Supreme Council, visit catholicprayerbreakfast.org.

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FEBRUARY 2012

COLUMBIA PUBLISHER Knights of Columbus ________ SUPREME OFFICERS Carl A. Anderson SUPREME KNIGHT Most Rev. William E. Lori, S.T.D. SUPREME CHAPLAIN Dennis A. Savoie DEPUTY SUPREME KNIGHT Charles E. Maurer Jr. SUPREME SECRETARY Logan T. Ludwig SUPREME TREASURER John A. Marrella SUPREME ADVOCATE ________ EDITORIAL Alton J. Pelowski alton.pelowski@kofc.org MANAGING EDITOR Patrick Scalisi patrick.scalisi@kofc.org ASSOCIATE EDITOR Brian Dowling brian.dowling@kofc.org CREATIVE & EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ________ GRAPHICS Michelle McCleary LAYOUT

Venerable Michael McGivney (1852-90) Apostle to the Young, Protector of Christian Family Life and Founder of the Knights of Columbus, Intercede for Us. ________ HOW TO REACH US MAIL COLUMBIA 1 Columbus Plaza New Haven, CT 06510-3326 ADDRESS CHANGES 203-752-4580 OTHER INQUIRIES 203-752-4398 FAX 203-752-4109 CUSTOMER SERVICE 1-800-380-9995 E-MAIL columbia@kofc.org INTERNET kofc.org/columbia ________ Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practical (that is, practicing) Catholics in union with the Holy See. This means that an applicant or member accepts the teaching authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, aspires to live in accord with the precepts of the Catholic Church, and is in good standing in the Catholic Church.

________ Copyright © 2012 All rights reserved ________ ON THE COVER The words “In God We Trust” are pictured on a U.S. coin.

BUILDING A BETTER WORLD

A Renewal of Faith In our families and communities, we are called to be missionaries of the new evangelization

by Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson IN OCTOBER, Pope Benedict XVI us, “A Christian may never think of belief announced a “Year of Faith” for the uni- as a private act. Faith is choosing to stand versal Church, an opportunity, he said, with the Lord so as to live with him.” for us “to rediscover the journey of faith Of course, renewal has many aspects. ness of life” and urged them to assist so as to shed ever clearer light on the joy Yet, one of the most important is “the priests in their pastoral activities. The and renewed enthusiasm of the en- witness offered by the lives of believers,” pope concluded by saying that the counter with Christ.” In this way, the Pope Benedict observed, adding that “by Catholic family is “the closest ally of the pope added, we can respond to the “pro- their very existence in the world, Chris- priestly ministry.”

To further our understanding of the found crisis of faith that has affected tians are called to radiate the word of many people.” truth that the Lord Jesus has left us.” family’s privileged place in the pastoral Pope Benedict has often spoken of the This, of course, is the great challenge and mission of the Church, the Knights of need for a new evangelization. In 2010, the great drama of Christian faith among Columbus has, for more than two decades, sponsored the work of he established a new Vatican the Pontifical John Paul II Inentity, the Pontifical Council stitute for Studies on Marriage for Promoting the New EvanOur witness is not only directed and Family, which is now logelization, and announced that to those outside the Church; cated at The Catholic Univerthe next World Synod of Bishsity of America in Washington, ops will study the new evangeit must be accompanied by a D.C. Today, hundreds of instilization. In doing so, he tute graduates are working to recalled the words of Blessed renewal of faith by those advance the pastoral and teachJohn Paul II in Christifideles already within the Church. ing mission of the Church Laici: “Without doubt a throughout North America. mending of the Christian fabThe Pontifical John Paul II ric of society is urgently needed in all parts of the world. But for this to the laity today in countries that are be- Institute is one of the most visible signs of the work of the Knights of Columbus come about what is needed is to first re- coming increasingly secular. make the Christian fabric of the ecclesial Not all of us may feel competent to be- to support the role of the family in the community itself ” (34). Thus, the come missionaries, but every Catholic new evangelization. But more important Church is both an “evangelized and can participate in the new evangelization is the work of our local councils, which evangelizing community,” and the new by the testimony of his own life and that constantly find ways for our members evangelization should address Catholics of his family. In fact, the lay faithful are and their families “to show the world the and non-Catholics alike. In other words, called to play a central role in the new love and presence of Christ.” This daily our witness is not only directed to those evangelization. This was Pope Benedict’s witness in our parishes and local commuoutside the Church; it must be accompa- message when he met recently with nities is our greatest contribution to the nied by a renewal of faith by those al- members of the Pontifical Council for work of the new evangelization.

As we prepare for the Year of Faith, we ready within the Church. the Family. On that occasion, he obContinuing the message of his prede- served that “the new evangelization de- will continue to collaborate with our pascessor, Pope Benedict has made clear that pends largely on the domestic church” tors and chaplains to make each of our the new evangelization requires a new and that “the new evangelization is insep- councils a place where the world may enmissionary enthusiasm and the courage arable from the Christian family.” He re- counter the Gospel values of charity, and commitment of public testimony. In peated his call that Catholic married unity and fraternity.

Vivat Jesus! declaring the Year of Faith, he reminded couples should “evangelize with their wit-

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LEARNING THE FAITH, LIVING THE FAITH

Proclaiming the Mysteries of the Kingdom At the heart of the Gospel, we encounter Jesus, his mission and his message

by Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori

THOSE WHO SAW and heard and they obey him” (Mk 1:27; see Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata also Mt 7:29). speak were touched by her words. She of hand, but a beam of light illumididn’t use jargon or try to be original. THE BEATITUDES: nating his announcement that the Her message was simple, straight from A PORTRAIT OF CHRIST the Gospel. When she spoke, we paid The awe and comments regarding kingdom of God was truly at hand.

Nowhere in the Gospels is the conattention. Many others preach and Jesus’ authority amounted to a preteach a similar message but without monition about his identity. People tent of Jesus’ preaching more concenmuch effect. So what is the difference? sensed, at least to some degree, that trated than the Sermon on the Mount, The answer can be summarized in two they were in the presence of the in- in which he gave the Beatitudes (see words: her life. Mother Teresa didn’t carnate Word of God. The Second Mt 5:1-12; Lk 6:20-23). Here, Jesus unlocks for us the secret of just teach the Gospel; she lived true and lasting joy, which is it through her religious consea fruit of the Holy Spirit. cration, her prayer and her servHappiness does not consist in ice to the poor. Her words and being rich, powerful, sated her life fit together.

In the Sermon on the Mount, with pleasure or an ability alThe third luminous mystery ways to escape criticism. of the rosary focuses on Jesus’ Jesus unlocks for us the secret of Rather, it has to do with being preaching of the Good News. poor in spirit, in mourning, in When Jesus began his public true and lasting joy, which is a being meek, in hungering and ministry, people stopped and fruit of the Holy Spirit. thirsting for holiness, in being listened. He did not seek to dazmerciful and clean of heart, zle his listeners with knowledge and in being a peacemaker. or impress them with subtle arIn his book Jesus of guments. Rather, his identity Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI and his message were one and the same. There is no gap between Vatican Council explains, “Now the describes the Beatitudes as “a sort of who Jesus is and what he taught. St. word is not simply audible; not only veiled interior biography of Jesus, a Mark’s Gospel brings this point home does it have a voice, now the word has kind of portrait of his figure. He who clearly: “The people were astonished a face, that of Jesus of Nazareth” (Ver- has no place to lay his head (cf. Mt. 8:20) is truly poor; he who can say, at his teaching, for he taught them as bum Domini, 12). one having authority and not as the Jesus’ words resonated in people’s ‘Come to me … for I am meek and scribes” (1:22). The people’s astonish- hearts like none they had ever heard lowly in heart’ (cf. Mt. 11:28-29) is ment knew no bounds when Jesus before, and signs and wonders often truly meek; he is the one who is pure proceeded to heal a man with an un- accompanied the truth and beauty of of heart and unceasingly beholds clean spirit who called out from the those words. Jesus possessed not only God. He is the peacemaker, the one crowd. “What is this?” they asked. “A intellectual and moral authority, but who suffers for God’s sake” (74). new teaching with authority! He also authority over nature and even When Jesus proclaimed the kingdom, commands even the unclean spirits over sin. His miracles were no sleight he invited people to turn to him and 4 ♦ COLUMBIA ♦

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LEARNING THE FAITH, LIVING THE FAITH

to be molded into living images of the Father’s glory.

THE NEW EVANGELIZATION In his first encyclical, Pope Benedict wrote that becoming Christian is not “an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a definitive direction” (Deus Caritas Est, 1).

Once we truly encounter the person of Christ in faith, repentance and prayer — and once his word has penetrated the depths of our hearts — we are changed. A new strength helps to overcome temptation, and through the Holy Spirit we receive a new joy,

HOLY FATHER’S PRAYER INTENTIONS

Offered in solidarity with Pope Benedict XVI GENERAL: That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life.

PoPe: CNS photo/Paul Haring — forD: CNS photo/family Theater Productions

MISSION: That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world’s poorest regions.

integrity and light in our daily lives that attracts others to Christ and to the Church. We find that we, too, have something of the “authority” that caused the crowds to put their trust in Jesus.

Central to the pontificates of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI is the new evangelization.

This doesn’t mean inventing a new Gospel to suit the spirit of the times, but rather the fresh proclamation of the Gospel today so that we may open our hearts to Christ and work to build a world that reflects his love more clearly. More than anything else, the new evangelization depends upon wit-

nesses — those who, like Mother Teresa, haven encountered Christ and have loved him in others such that they can bear personal witness to the Gospel by their lives. When we live the Gospel that we teach, people are more likely to pay attention.

As we meditate on the third luminous mystery, we turn to Mary, who, more than any other human person, embodied the truth and the love of the Gospel. She is the “Star of the New Evangelization,” and through her prayers, we can open our hearts more fully to Christ and find the courage to be those witnesses the world needs.♦

C AT H O L I C M A N O F T H E M O N T H

Bishop Francis X. Ford (1892-1952) FRANCIS XAVIER Ford’s parents almost named him Christopher Columbus Ford because his birth year marked the 400th anniversary of the explorer’s first journey. Instead, they named him after the 16th-century Jesuit missionary, in whose footsteps this boy from Brooklyn, N.Y., would follow.

In 1912, during his second year at Cathedral College in Manhattan, Ford became the first person to enter seminary for the recently founded Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, known as Maryknoll, in Ossining, N.Y. Months after his ordination in 1918, Father Ford left with three other priests to set up a mission in southern China. He helped open a Maryknoll seminary three years later and soon was named prefect of a new mission area. He was consecrated bishop in 1935, and the Diocese of Kaying eventually grew to 20,000 parishioners. During World War II, he also aided refugees, Chinese guerrilla forces and Allied airmen.

In 1950, Bishop Ford and his secretary, Maryknoll Sister Joan Marie Ryan, were placed under house arrest

and charged with espionage. Four months later, according to Sister Joan Marie’s testimony, Communist authorities took Bishop Ford from his home, beat him mercilessly and paraded him through the cities where he had ministered. He later died in prison on Feb. 22, 1952.

Throughout his ministry, Bishop Ford served with humility and compassion, praying: “Lord, makes us the doorstep by which the multitudes may come to worship Thee, and if, in the saving of their souls, we are ground underfoot and spat upon and worn out, at least we shall have … become the King’s Highway in pathless China.”♦ FEBRUARY 2012

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KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS NEWS

City of Rome Names Plaza for Knights of Columbus

IN RECOGNITION of the Order’s near century of service and dedication to the people of Rome, the City of Rome began construction Dec. 6, 2011, on a square named in honor of the Knights.

Mayor Giovanni Alemanno of Rome officiated the groundbreaking ceremony of the “Largo Cavalieri di Colombo,” which was attended by Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and other dignitaries.

Msgr. Roger Roensch, director of the Bishops’ Office for U.S. Visitors to the Vatican, gave a blessing to mark the groundbreaking, which took place at the corner of Viale delle Terme di Caracalla and Via Antonina.

The Knights of Columbus has been active in a variety of charitable roles in Rome for more than 90 years. Following the Order’s service to U.S. troops in Rome in World War I, Pope Benedict XV in 1920 invited the Knights to stay in the city and to develop playgrounds for the city’s youth, who had few open spaces for exercise in the post-war years.

To this day, the Order continues to manage and maintain athletic fields, which are free to the young people of Rome.

Work at the playgrounds continued unabated even during World War II, when the United States and Italy were at war.

During the war, food delivery to the people of Rome from the Vatican was often coordinated from a K of C athletic field. After the war, the field became a food distribution point for the children of Rome, who suffered food shortages.

The Order has also supported the Eternal City in other ways, promoting its cultural and artistic heritage by renovating Vatican and civic artworks and monuments, as well as several restoration projects at St. Peter’s Basilica — in6 ♦ COLUMBIA ♦

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Rome’s Mayor Giovanni Alemanno, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, Umberto Broccoli, superintendent of culture for the City of Rome, and Cultural Assessor Dino Gasperini look at plans for the future development of the site. • A sign identifies the newly dedicated plaza. cluding the restoration of the façade in the 1980s. The Knights has likewise sponsored a number of Vatican communications initiatives.

“The Knights of Columbus is honored to have been able to serve the people of Rome, its local Church, and the Vatican for nearly a century,” said Supreme Knight Anderson. “The friendship between the Knights of Columbus and the City of Rome has overcome the difficulties of distance, language, custom and even war, precisely because it has been based on the virtue so often extolled by Pope Benedict XVI — charity.

We hope that this square will be a reminder of the power of the transformative power of Christian charity.”♦

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS NEWS

VICarIuS CHrSTI: L’Osservatore Romano

Vatican Secretary of State Thanks Order for Work in Rome SPEAKING AT a concert celebrating the groundbreaking for the new “Largo Cavalieri di Colombo” in Rome Dec. 6, 2011, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone thanked the Knights of Columbus for the more than 90 years of service that the Order has given to the City of Rome and the Vatican.

“I am happy to convey the felicitations of the Holy Father Benedict XVI, who has asked me to mention that his venerated predecessor, Benedict XV, was (the one) to invite the Knights of Columbus to establish themselves in Rome in 1920,” the cardinal said.

“Since then, the initiatives of your Order have successfully continued in the Eternal City, followed with a great and rewarding friendship.”

The concert was held in the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, adjacent to the Campidoglio, and featured a performance by the Gospel Choir of St. Thomas More Church in Washington, D.C. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and Rome’s Mayor Giovanni Alemanno were among the attendees, and both delivered remarks on the Knights’ long-standing relationship with Rome.

Cardinal Bertone also noted the Knights’ “decisive role” in constructing sports facilities for Rome’s children, restoring Vatican artworks and supporting the Church’s communication efforts. “Even more so, your role has been important as a confidential diplomatic channel between the United States of America and the Vatican City State, before the diplomatic recognition of the Holy See by the United States in the ’80s,” the cardinal added.

He continued, “Your founder, Venerable Father Michael McGivney was prophetic in clearly understanding that the total and complete ‘yes’ to Christ was not exclusively reserved for those who had received sacred Orders or had professed religious vows. On the contrary, this is a ‘yes’ which is required at every baptism.”♦

Pope Benedict XVI Receives Supreme Knight

POPE BENEDICT XVI received Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson in a private audience at the Vatican Dec. 7, 2011. On behalf of the 1.8 million members of the Knights of Columbus, the supreme knight presented the pope with a gift of $1.6 million, representing the 2011 earnings from the Order’s Vicarius Christi Fund, which was established in 1981. Over the years, the fund has provided $49.6 million for the pope’s personal charities and causes. In addition to the donation, the pontiff also received a report on the Order’s various initiatives from Anderson during the audience.♦

Knights Mourn Passing of Cardinal Foley CARDINAL JOHN P. FOLEY died Dec. 11, 2011. A member of Our Lady of Lourdes Council 4546 in Philadelphia, Cardinal Foley joined the Knights in 1984 and was a regular attendee of the annual Supreme Convention, giving the keynote address at the States Dinner in Quebec City in 2008.

In 1984, Pope John Paul II appointed Cardinal Foley archbishop and president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. He served in that capacity for more than 20 years, and in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Upon learning of Cardinal Foley’s passing, Supreme Knight Carl A. An-

derson issued a statement, which read in part: “Cardinal John Foley was both a member of — and a great friend to — the Knights of Columbus and his presence among us will indeed be missed. His Eminence was always an excellent example of Christian witness. With my brother Knights, I witnessed this firsthand during the years in which Cardinal Foley served as president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, where he worked tirelessly to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.”♦ FEBRUARY 2012

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S AVING J ESUS IN M ONTANA A statue of Christ in a national forest, Knights argue, is an historic landmark, not a constitutional problem

by Brian Dowling

O

n an overcast day at the Whitefish Mountain Resort in northwestern Montana, a horizontal wall of clouds meets Big Mountain near the top of a chairlift, next to a life-size statue of Jesus. The statue stands with outstretched arms, blessing the Flathead Valley that spreads for miles below.

Bill Glidden, an energetic man with gray hair and a white mustache, drove his red truck up the mountain toward the statue one recent morning. After retiring from Boeing and moving from Seattle to nearby Kalispell, Mont., Glidden became the grand knight of Kalispell Council 1328, which erected the statue in 1954 to honor the 10th Mountain Division’s service in World War II. He explained how his council responded to calls for the statue’s removal.

When the council’s permit for the statue was denied its 10year renewal in August 2011, the Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation, took credit. In May, the group contacted the Forest Service for documents about the statue, arguing that the statue’s placement on federal land is unconstitutional. The group claims that the statue’s presence on federal land violates the First Amendment’s decree that the government may not establish a religion.

The situation isn’t unique, as similar groups have leveled similar challenges over the past several years. One problem is that these situations hinge on constitutional issues that have been murkily or inconsistently treated by the U.S. Supreme Court and therefore give lower courts little to go on. A larger question, however, undergirds the debate on whether a reli-

Big Mountain Jesus, a statue placed in 1954 to honor World War II veterans, has recently been challenged as unconstitutional.

gious statue in the middle of a Montana forest is legal or not: Should religion have a place in public life, or it is something to be kept private?

Within months, what started as small-town Montana news became a national story. Glidden received letters from as far away as Iraq, where active-duty personnel asked about the situation. Before this, Glidden noted, the council was known for its charity. “But now we’re known for the statue,” he said.

A CLEAR CASE None of the Kalispel council’s current members were around when the statue was built in the 1950s, which makes the statue’s history difficult to tease out. Glidden could find just one person who remembered seeing Knights and veterans of the 10th Mountain Division at the statue’s dedication.

Activated in 1943, the 10th Mountain Division was made of and by skiers, who secured a place in history by their bravery in World War II and by the ski runs they later carved into mountains across the country. The unit recruited world-class skiers from the National Ski Patrol, knowing that battles in rugged terrain would be a necessary part of the war in Europe.

They trained in Washington, Colorado and West Virginia before landing in Italy to begin combat in January 1945. The division crisscrossed Italy, battling for four months until the war in Europe ended five months later.

Members of the 10th resettled across the United States, establishing some of the world’s best ski areas, including Aspen, Vail, Sugarbush, Crystal Mountain and Whitefish’s Big Mountain. The veterans in Whitefish arrived just as ski runs were being cut into Big Mountain and as two developers poured capital into a ski resort. The development paid off, and in 1949

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“Their fix was, we need to move the statue.

We scratched our heads and asked, ‘Why do we need to move the statue?’”

CHARLES HARBALL ATTORNEY AND KNIGHT

tent and because governmental bodies can be bullied, forced to avoid litigation as budgets tighten due to the economy.

This muddled state of the law exists, in part, thanks to seemingly contradictory court decisions.

In October 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear a case about crosses on the side of a Utah highway.

The lower court ruled that crosses erected in memory of fallen highway patrolmen were unconstitutional because they exhibited the police insignia and were on public land. Dissenting to the decision to not hear the case, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas noted the inconsistency of Establishment Clause rulings: “A cross displayed on government property violates the Establishment Clause, as the Tenth Circuit held here, except when it doesn’t.” He

SOLVING THE PROBLEM After the inquiry about the statue in May 2011, the Forest Service called a meeting with the Knights to find a solution. Glidden, along with Charles Harball, a Knight and attorney for the city of Kalispell, drove to the meeting together. In the Forest Service boardroom, Forest Service representatives sat on one side of a long conference table and Knights on the other. According to

Photos by brian Dowling

and 1951, Big Mountain held the U.S. National Alpine Skiing Championships, which attracted thousands of spectators and hundreds of professional skiers, including far-flung members of the 10th Mountain Division.

At the time, skiers asked why there wasn’t a shrine to commemorate the mountain — and the soldiers who fought in the 10th Division. Local members of the 10th, who were also Knights, thought to build a statue of Jesus, something akin to what they saw in the mountains throughout Europe. Locals say they came up with the idea while skiing.

A group of Knights acquired a specialuse permit from the Forest Service in 1953 to build a shrine near the top of the main ski run. A year later, the Knights dedicated the six-foot-one-inch statue of Jesus, which stands on a sixfoot concrete base to lift it above the high snow. There, the cast-stone statue has sat for more than 50 years, mostly undisturbed.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation’s complaints are nothing new. In 2009, the group spent more than $300,000 on litigation and complaints, about a quarter of its total expenses, according to tax filings. That same year, it fought seven lawsuits and placed more than 350 formal letters of complaint in places like Whitefish. The group claims 17,000 members nationwide and more than 100 in Montana.

The reason the foundation can file and find success in such complaints, legal observers say, is because Establishment Clause rulings have been inconsis-

added, “It is difficult to imagine an area of law more in need of clarity.”

That same month, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decided that a large cross on public land north of San Diego, which served as a memorial for veterans, was unconstitutional. Circuit Court Judge Carlos T. Bea, joined by four other judges, disagreed with the decision to not rehear the case. He pointed out how crosses are a common military symbol — 114 Civil War monuments include a cross; Arlington Cemetery has three cross memorials; Gettysburg has two — and how numerous military branches use the cross as a symbol of distinguished service. There is significance, he wrote, in “the history behind these crosses and the simple fact that a cross has been used throughout this Nation’s history as a symbol of respect for veterans and fallen soldiers and their valor.”

But the Whitefish case resides in a clearer area of public display law, according to Eric Rassbach, the national litigation director for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law-firm and educational institute in Washington, D.C. It is clearer because the Knights leased the land, making the statue an example of private, not public, speech.

“There’s nothing untoward about having private speech on privately controlled property,” Rassbach said.

As such, the Knights, not the Forest Service, have always maintained the property on which the statue stands. In 1970, when the statue’s left arm was broken off and found near the chair lift, foresters sent a letter to the Knights instead of fixing the statue, alerting them of the issue and noting that their “effort to maintain a presentable area to the public is appreciated.”

Harball and Glidden, the Forest Service was anxious to avoid litigation.

“Their fix was that we need to move the statue,” Harball said. “We scratched our heads and asked, ‘Why do we need to move the statue?’” Little was decided that day.

Two months later, the Forest Service denied the Knights’ permit, stating that the statue was an inappropriate use of public lands and that a plan for its removal must be submitted by Dec. 31, 2011.

The Knights met in August to discuss the matter. “The consensus was that [the statue] is going to stay there — we can’t move it,” Glidden recalled. “We got some comments from professionals. One engineer said that we wouldn’t be able to move it; it would fall apart.” Harball and the council appealed the decision in September as news of the situation spread through national media.

Meanwhile, the Forest Service’s local archeologist, Tim Light, sent a letter to the Montana State Historical Preservation Office one week after the permit denial, requesting comment on the situation.

The letter acknowledged that the statue is religious and couldn’t be considered historic merely because of its association with veterans. Light argued, however, that the statue has strong, historical ties to the development of the ski area.

The preservation office agreed, stating in a letter that it wasn’t a religious site because “unlike Lourdes or Fatima, people do not go there to pray, but it is a local landmark that skiers recognize, and it is a historic part of the resort.” Days after the Forest Service received this input, it revoked the permit’s denial and opened a public comment period on the grounds that the statue was a rare piece of local history from the 1950s.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in a letter, called the decision “misguided,” claiming that the statue demonstrates the government’s preferential treatment to a religion and that calling the statue a war memorial is a “sham” because the original permit calls the statue a “shrine.” The letter urged that the Forest Service, for the betterment of taxpayers, remove the statue to eliminate the “need for costly and protracted litigation.”

“I was a little outraged and I think many people were.

It seems like they are trying to take away not only a piece of history here on mountain and in Montana, but also trying to tell us how to live and what values we should or should not have.”

DAN GRAVES PRESIDENT OF WHITEFISH MOUNTAIN RESORT

In the less than three months for comment, the public sent about 95,000 letters and email messages, according to Derek Milner, a project leader for the local Forest Service office. More than 40,000 people also visited a Facebook page titled “Save Big Mountain Jesus.”

Through two-dozen interviews with people who live in and around Whitefish, it seems that people largely support the statue. Many see it as more of a landmark and less as a symbol that actively promotes Christianity.

Katheryn Janetski, a local woman who has skied the mountain for years, views the statue as “part of our local heritage.”

In December, Big Mountain still lacked enough snow to ski on some runs.

“Maybe this has something to do with it,” Janetski said.

Kyle Duty, a self-professed ski-bum who coaches the mountain’s snowboarding team, sees the statue as a landmark, and added that he could probably count the number of times he’d been to church on one hand. “Everybody in Whitefish, especially the people who live and ski here everyday, knows why the statue is there and that it is for those war heroes who lost their lives, that it’s not necessarily religious,” Duty said. “I mean, obviously it’s a statue of Jesus — but they’re not trying to preach Christianity to this town of Whitefish through this statue.”

Dan Graves, president of the Whitefish Mountain Resort, was surprised with the situation. “I was a little outraged and I think many people were,” he said. “It seems like they are trying to take away not only a piece of history here on mountain and in Montana but also try to tell us how to live and what values we should or should not have.”

Graves stops by the statue on his daily rounds and listens to what people say about it. “I’ve never had any kind of complaint,” he said.

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Next to the Big Mountain Jesus statue stands a plaque describing the statue’s connection to the 10th Mountain Division and the Knights of Columbus.

He recently researched the statue’s history through local sources and had a plaque made to explain what a life-size statue of Jesus was doing at the top of a ski run. The plaque reads, in part, “A common memory from [the 10th Mountain Division’s] time in Italy and along the French and Swiss border was of the many religious shrines and statues in the mountain communities. … We thank those brave troops that brought this special shrine of Christ to the Big Mountain and hope that you enjoy and respect it.”

TO KEEP THE STATUE A decision on the statue’s fate is expected in early February, said Milner of the Forest Service, and from there it could go to court regardless of whether the permit is approved or denied. In its letters, the Freedom from Religion Foundation advised the Forest Service to remove the statue to avoid a lawsuit and are “considering litigation depending on what happens,” according to Annie Laurie Gaylor, the organization’s cofounder.

If the permit is not approved, another group could sue the Forest Service to protect the statue. Harball’s opinion left little doubt of this possibility. “We’re not going to fold, say, ‘Gee, I think you might be right; maybe we don’t understand the Constitution.’ We think we understand the Constitution just fine.”

One December morning after the end of the public comment period, Glidden and Harball met in Harball’s Kalispell office to talk about where the process with the statue has left them. Surrounded by bookshelves filled with legal volumes, Harball said, “Sometimes it seems that the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket, that we’re becoming completely secularized.”

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Still, Harball is grateful for the offers of help that he has received from numerous law firms and doesn’t plan on giving up soon.

Glidden, also grateful for the support, recalled a packed evening at the Whitefish VFW lodge where the public gathered in November to voice their opinions. A veteran of 10th Mountain Division was there, as was U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, who stood up in Washington for the issue. Rehberg proposed a land-swap deal wherein the Forest Service land on which the statue stands would be traded for land that the resort owns.

Glidden recalled a phone call he received a month earlier.

The caller was a man from Chicago who identified himself as an atheist and wanted to share his feelings on the issue. He said that the debate wasn’t about Catholics or atheists — it was about war heroes. Glidden agreed. “Apparently he’d been out here and seen it. He skied, and thought it was a great thing for our veterans, and that’s what it’s all about.”

While talking, Glidden’s phone rang twice, and he took the call. It was Kenneth Ellis, the grand knight of Whitefish Council 7630. The call was short, and Glidden soon flipped his phone shut, laughing.

Ellis told Glidden that he received a call from woman who wanted to help keep the statue standing. Glidden takes these calls a lot. “The grand knight said this woman is leaving the valley and she wants to help us financially,” Glidden said.

“Our response is thank you, but we’ll try to do this on our own.”♦ BRIAN DOWLING is Columbia’s creative and editorial assistant.

FAT H E R S F O R G O O D

Raising Faithful Citizens We can teach our children, from a very young age, the values of fidelity, charity and patriotism

by Brandon Vogt

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Thinkstock

hen my son, Isaiah, was born nearly three years ago, my life and view of the world changed forever. Like many fathers gazing into the eyes of their first child, I realized that I was not the center of my own universe. Love for a little child awakened my instincts to protect, provide and give my life for another and the future.

I also began asking myself what kind of world my boy would inherit. Issues I thought little about before — such as schools, teachers, tax cuts, social security and health care laws — suddenly became relevant. Being responsible for another person made the political debates of the day more personal, and I began to pay attention.

Each time I step into the voting booth now, I don’t vote for my own limited concerns — I am also shaping Isaiah’s world. Part of my job as a dad, I realized, was to leave my son a better world and help him embrace the Catholic faith, which includes having a concern for others and the common good.

Even though he and our other children are still young — my wife and I now have a 1-year-old daughter and another boy arriving in May — we try to reinforce the importance of faithful citizenship.

One way we do this is by having our kids bring a canned food item with them to Mass every week. They love putting cans in the food basket, and it has established a strong connection between charity and worship. Even at a young age, the practical application of the Great Commandment — love of God and love of neighbor — has become strong in their minds.

Another way we teach them about social justice is by bringing them to peaceful prayer vigils outside the local abortion facility. As we pray the rosary for mothers and unborn children, our kids learn the power of prayer. It

shows them that faithful citizenship depends on the interior life and that we can influence the world in big ways through intercession.

We focus on outward gestures, too. Isaiah is already a pro at making the sign of the cross. It is automatic for him whenever we enter a church or sit down for a meal. We also teach him respect for our country by saluting the flag.

Any time he sees the stars and stripes, we prompt him to make that subtle pledge of allegiance which confirms that he is a dual citizen — both a Catholic in the City of God and an American in the home of the brave.

As our kids grow, we plan to teach them faithful citizenship through the pages of children stories. Classics like Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia highlight selflessness and sacrifice, two keys to justice. We’ll explain to them how all of the great saints and heroes lived for something much bigger than themselves, often at great risk.

One day soon, I will bring my son with me into the voting booth for the first time, and explain to him the privilege of shaping our nation through voting. I will tell him how thousands of men actually gave their lives — and still do today — so that citizens can be free to make choices like this.

Ultimately, the best way to raise faithful citizens is to help them discover that old, shocking truth: The universe does not revolve around them. Whether through canned food, patriotic salutes or children’s stories, there are plenty of ways to do this. And when our kids embrace that truth, the world will change for the better.♦ BRANDON VOGT, the author of The Church and New Media: Blogging Converts, Online Activists, and Bishops Who Tweet (Our Sunday Visitor), lives with his family in Casselberry, Fla.

FIND ADDITIONAL ARTICLES AND RESOURCES FOR CATHOLIC MEN AND THEIR FAMILIES AT WWW. FATHERSFORGOOD. ORG .

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Envisioning Religious Liberty The U.S. bishops, assisted by the faithful, will work to combat current and future threats to religious freedom

by Bishop William E. Lori, Supreme Chaplain

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n a homily on the Book of Ezekiel, St. Gregory the Great comments on a passage in which the Lord says, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel” (33:7). Gregory explains, “A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height, for all his life, to help them by his foresight.”

The saintly pontiff compared his ministry to that of a watchman, and so, too, are we bishops called to be vigilant heralds of the Word and overseers of the household of God. For some time now, we have viewed with growing alarm the erosion of religious liberty in the United States. During the bishops’ plenary meeting in November 2010, we decided to make the defense of religious liberty a priority and embraced our responsibility to address threats to this precious freedom head on.

In consultation with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Administrative Committee, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York established an Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. The committee is now comprised of 10 bishops, assisted by consultants, an associate general secretary, a lawyer and a lobbyist. In addition, the committee relies on the collaboration of an extraordinary number of bishops and the expertise of the USCCB staff.

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As the committee begins its important work, we must consider several questions: How do we, as pastors and citizens, bring into focus our teachings on religious liberty? What should we be looking for and what do we see? And how should we respond?

OUR TEACHING AND OUR HERITAGE The Second Vatican Council called upon Catholics “to read the signs of the times,” and as Americans, we do so as if through binoculars equipped with two lenses. First is the lens of the Church’s teaching on human dignity and religious liberty — a dignity and freedom inscribed on the human heart and revealed fully in Christ. Second is the lens of the heritage bequeathed by the Founding Fathers: a bold Declaration of Independence that recognizes that all people are “endowed by their Creator” with inherent human rights, and a Constitution and Bill of Rights that accord a certain primacy to our freedom to respond to our Creator without undue government interference.

It takes much work to keep these binoculars in focus, to maintain a critical and accurate understanding of how the Founding Fathers’ vision and Church teaching fit together. As historians know so well, the relationship between the Church

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and the American experiment came into focus only gradually and is always in need of careful refocusing. Nonetheless, both lenses, when allowed to function as intended, offer a remarkably clear vision of human dignity and freedom.

This vision includes an understanding that basic human freedoms are inherent to human dignity and that our freedoms are granted not by the state, but are given to us by our Creator. As President John F. Kennedy said in his inaugural address, the rights for which our forebears fought “come not from the generosity of the state, but rather from the hand of God.” Likewise, the Church teaches that “the ultimate source of human rights is not found in the mere will of human beings, … but in man himself, and in God his Creator” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 153).

If religious liberty is prior to the state and not a privilege granted by the government, then we rightfully look to our government to fulfill its duty to protect religious liberty, promote religious tolerance and accommodate the place of religion in American life. We expect our government not to allow religious liberty to be easily compromised by other claims and interests.

Our vision is sharpened by the wisdom of George Washington, who saw the importance of morality and religion as

This 1940 painting by Howard Chandler Christy depicts the signing of the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall Sept. 17, 1787. “indispensable supports” for “political prosperity.” Thus, we rightfully envision the Church as an actor in society, forming not only believers, but also citizens equipped to build a civilization of truth and love. We seek protection by law and acceptance in our culture of intermediate institutions such as the family, churches and schools, which stand between the power of the government and the conscience of individuals, all the while contributing immensely to the common good.

The lenses of Church teaching and the Founding Fathers’ vision equip us to search both law and culture to see whether they respect religious freedom as an individual right that is inscribed by the Creator, regardless of current moral or political trends. The Second Vatican Council teaches, “The exercise of religion, of its very nature, consists before all else in those internal, voluntary, and free acts whereby man sets the course of his life directly toward God” and thus no one should “be forced to act in a manner contrary to [his or her] conscience” (Dignitatis Humanae, 3).

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While recognizing religious freedom as an individual right, we see that it belongs also to churches and religious institutions comprised of citizens who are believers. And as believers, we do not seek to create a theocracy, but rather to be a leaven and light within our culture. Our government should extend to all faiths a robust understanding of religious freedom, one that envisions the importance of being able not only to worship freely, but also to bring into the public square truths and values that flow from faith and reason, expressed in works of education, health care, social services and charity.

In short, religious liberty pertains to the whole person — it is not simply the freedom to believe and to worship, but to shape our very lives around those beliefs and that worship — both as individuals and as a community — and to share our lives, thus transformed, with the world. As watchmen, we need to see whether or not this fundamental liberty continues to live in the hearts of our fellow Catholics and citizens.

WHAT WE SEE What is it that we actually see through the dual lenses of Catholic social teaching and founding American principles? We see a Church that, for all her challenges, serves the common good with extraordinary effectiveness and generosity.

In the dioceses that we serve, the Church is the largest nongovernmental source of educational, social, charitable and health care services, offered as an integral part of our mission and an expression of our faith in the God who is love. In a time of economic hardship, the services that the Catholic Church and other Christian communities offer are crucial.

But it is becoming more and more difficult for the Church to deliver services in a manner that respects the very faith that impels her members.

Among these challenges is a pattern in culture and law that treats religion as merely a private matter between an individual and his or her God. Instead of promoting tolerance for different religious views that contribute to the nation’s common morality, certain laws, court decisions and administrative regulations treat religion as a divisive and disruptive force better kept out of public life. Some invoke the so-called doctrine of separation of church and state to exclude the Church from public policy, thus ignoring the historic role of churches in ending slavery, securing civil rights, and promoting just labor practices.

Although religion is personal, it is not private, for there is no religious liberty if we are not free to publicly express our faith. Likewise, there is no freedom of speech if one is free to say what he or she believes only privately, but not publicly through the media, arts, libraries and schools.

We also see that the reach of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment — “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” — is being expanded so as to continually narrow the protections offered by the Free Exercise Clause — “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ” — thus turning the First Amendment on its head.

The Establishment Clause was meant to protect the Free Exercise Clause, not the other way around. The result has been that both individual citizens with strong religious convictions and religious institutions are less broadly accommodated and even marginalized on the grounds that any minimal accommodation somehow constitutes the “establishment” of particular religions in our land.

The USCCB has been defending against an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit involving the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ recently abandoned policy that allowed the Church to serve trafficking victims without also providing them with abortions and contraception. The lawsuit claims that the policy, which respected our freedom of religious exercise, actually violated the Establishment Clause.

But make no mistake: Aggressive secularism is also a system of belief. In failing to accommodate people of faith and religious institutions, both law and culture are establishing un-religion as the religion of the land and granting it the rights and protections that our Founding Fathers envisioned for citizens who are believers and their churches. In addition, the barriers preventing government from interfering in the internal life of religious groups have been lowered over time.

This aids the erosion of religious liberty by the imposition of court-mandated “rights” that have no textual basis in the Constitution, such as those that pertain to abortion and samesex marriage. Refusal to endorse the taking of innocent human life or to redefine marriage is now portrayed as discriminatory. As a result, the freedom of religious entities to provide services according to their own beliefs, to defend publicly their teachings, and even to choose and manage their own personnel is coming under increased attack.

This and more have led to dramatic and immediate threats to religious liberty across our land. Consider an Alabama law and court ruling that criminalized the “good Samaritan” services that religious entities provide to the undocumented; a county clerk in New York State who faces legal action because she refuses to take part in same-sex marriages; the 2009 attempt of members of the Judiciary Committee in Connecticut to reorganize parishes in a manner utterly opposed to Catholic

The lenses of Church teaching and the Founding Fathers’ vision equip us to search both law and culture to see whether they respect religious freedom as an individual right that is inscribed by the Creator

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Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, addresses the U.S. bishops at their annual fall meeting in Baltimore Nov. 14, 2011.

CNS photo/Nancy Phelan Wiechec

teaching and law; and the sad reality that many diocesan Catholic Charities have had to withdraw from adoption and foster care services because of their fidelity to the Church’s teaching on marriage.

Some federal agencies, absent legislative and judicial oversight, also threaten religious freedom. HHS issued regulations that would mandate coverage of sterilization and contraception, including abortifacients, in all private health care plans.

The religious exemption was far too narrow, requiring Catholic employers to hire mainly Catholics, serve mainly Catholics and exist mainly to inculcate religious values in order to qualify.

Though there is a real possibility of a broader exemption, it remains to be seen whether it will protect all religious organizations or the conscience rights of individuals and insurers.

Contrary to conscience protections that are already a matter of law, Catholic Relief Services and Migration Refugee Services were told that a new condition for the renewal of cooperative agreements was the provision of offering a full-range of so-called reproductive services, a condition we hope may soon be dropped.

The U.S. Department of Justice has created additional problems. It has attacked the Defense of Marriage Act as motivated by “bias and prejudice,” akin to racism, thereby implying that churches that teach that marriage is between a man and a woman are guilty of bigotry.

The Department of Justice has also argued before the Supreme Court for the virtual elimination of the First Amendment’s “ministerial exception,” which protects the freedom of religious denominations to choose their own ministers without state interference.

HOW TO RESPOND TO WHAT WE SEE To respond to these and other threats immediately on the horizon, the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty has begun its work to help dioceses defend and promote religious liberty. As bishops, our first duty and instinct is to teach, and so, among other things, the committee will provide multimedia resources to help educate the faithful about religious liberty issues.

As pastors, we recognize that we have a critical role to play in leading our people in prayer and in instructing and inspiring them, so that they will cherish their God-given freedoms and work to shape a society marked by respect for the transcendent dignity and freedom of each human being.

And as watchmen, we will continue to flag threats to religious liberty and to speak out against them, to engage public officials, whether elected or appointed, not in a partisan fashion, but in a manner entirely consistent with the deepest values of our democracy.

But this we cannot do alone. We need to involve our closest co-workers, our priests, who are on the front lines of parish life

and who enjoy the respect and esteem of their parishioners.

Their voices will be vital in the struggle that stands before us.

We must also call forth the laymen and women of the Church to put their gifts and expertise on the line in defense of religious liberty, and we must join with our ecumenical and interreligious partners.

It is not a question of creating new structures or new bureaucracies, but of utilizing what is already in place — parishes, schools, communications networks — so as to refocus and re-energize the people we serve. I hope that the Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty will be of greatest service to all dioceses in our role as teachers, as pastors, as lovers of truth and freedom — as watchmen. Together, we will do our best to awaken in ourselves, in our fellow Catholics and in the culture at large a new appreciation for religious liberty and a renewed determination to defend it.♦ BISHOP WILLIAM E. LORI of Bridgeport, Conn., was named chairman of the U.S. bishops’ new Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty in September 2011. The text of this article was adapted from a speech Bishop Lori gave during the plenary USCCB meeting in November.

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A Crisis of Freedom An interview with Thomas Farr about the status and importance of religious liberty around the world

by Alton J. Pelowski

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homas F. Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, recently spoke with Columbia about the current state of religious freedom from a global perspective.

Farr served as the U.S. State Department’s first director of the Office of International Religious Freedom from 1999-2003 and is the author of World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security (Oxford, 2008). He is also chairman of the Witherspoon Institute’s Task Force on International Religious Freedom, which on March 1 will release a book titled Religious Freedom, Why Now? Defending an Embattled Human Right. For more information, visit berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/rfp.

COLUMBIA: Is there a global crisis in religious liberty?

THOMAS FARR: There is indeed a global crisis, although it has different dimensions. Outside the West, it’s pretty clear that violent religious persecution is growing — including torture, rape, unjust imprisonment, murder and disappearance — and this is having a dramatic humanitarian impact.

Within the West, several countries have for some time considered themselves to be post-religious. So it is not surprising to see a diminution of the conviction that religious liberty is something worth protecting. The United States, I think, is behind Western Europe and Canada, but on the same downward trajectory. The reason why we haven’t reached the same levels, in my view, is that the United States remains a very religious place. But we are seeing, and have seen in recent years, assaults on what was once considered the first freedom in American history and the U.S. Constitution.

What is of great concern globally is the evidence that violent persecution is increasing. Two studies by the Pew Research Center, in 2009 and 2011, lay out the statistical evidence for the growth of religious persecution throughout the world and the absence of religious freedom.

THOMAS FARR: It’s coming from both. In many countries around the world, Catholics and other Christian minorities are under great pressure from a variety of authoritarian or theocratic governments, as well as private actors, which have in common a desire to keep the practice of Christianity private, to keep it out of public view.

China is an example of a nominally atheist regime. Although there are religious believers within the Communist party, the party is officially atheist and clearly fears religion. Catholicism in recent decades has become a matter of grave concern among Chinese officials because of its association with Pope John Paul II and the collapse of Communism in Europe. Of course, other minorities in China, including Protestants, Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists, are subject to persecution as well.

In the Muslim majority world, particularly in the greater Middle East, the problem is the dominance of an extremist interpretation of Islam. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, which have very closed, quasi-theocratic systems, it is virtually impossible for any Christian, or frankly any non-favored Muslim minority, to exist in public. Christians are also in a fragile situation in the nascent democracies of Egypt, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. The continuing salience of radical interpretations of Islam and the utter absence of religious freedom in these countries means that Muslim communities feel a sense of impunity at violence against Catholics and other minorities. Although they may be breaking the law when attacking people, they may not be prosecuted for doing so if they allege that their victims were somehow insulting Islam. This is an impossible situation for countries that seek democracy. Democracy cannot succeed when such practices exist.

If one defines religion as the search for religious truth and accepts the possibility that such truth does exist, then religion is a universal endeavor, common to all.

COLUMBIA: Is this persecution primarily from other religious groups or from secular and atheistic governments?

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COLUMBIA: What is the ability and willingness of the federal government to address the issue?

THOMAS FARR: According to the International Religious Freedom Act, it is the responsibility of the U.S. State Department and the president to advance religious freedom as part of our foreign policy. But under this administration, and to a certain extent prior administrations, the ambassador-at-large has very little au-

thority, virtually no resources and little status in the U.S. diplomatic community.

The humanitarian argument is powerful in an emotional sense, but people in the State Department don’t see its policy relevance.

In short, they see religious freedom as a humanitarian issue, not a strategic issue. Until this changes, U.S. religious freedom policy is unlikely to be effective.

However, if our foreign affairs establishment can come to see that advancing religious freedom is in the national interest, we will have the opportunity to develop resources and programs to implement strategies in critical countries around the world. For example, we need to empower those people who are speaking from the heart of Islam, within their own countries and traditions, and who already see the need for democracy grounded in religious liberty — not because the United States or the United Nations tell them to do so, but because it’s in their interest to do so.

CNS photo/mohsin raza, reuters

COLUMBIA: Does national interest pertaining to global religious liberty primarily pertain to the threat of war and terrorism or does it extend beyond that?

THOMAS FARR: I think there is a perfectly good argument grounded in the American understanding of what we have historically called “the first freedom.” What that means is not merely that it is the first right enumerated in the Bill of Rights, but also that it belongs to all people and is given by God. We believe this, and it is a reason for standing with the persecuted around the world.

The strategic argument, on the other hand, is that it is in our interest for democracies to succeed and become stable. Successful democracies will yield their benefits to all of their citizens equally, and will not be suffused with religious violence and extremism.

Religious liberty, properly understood, is an antidote to violent religious extremism. Why? Because religious liberty imposes limits as well as freedoms — for example, equality under the law, no state coercion in matters of religion and freedom of religious expression. There is plenty of evidence in history and in contemporary scholarship to show that the Arab Spring countries are not going to have stable democracies without religious liberty. I think this is common sense.

COLUMBIA: In light of religious-based terrorism, how do you respond to those who claim that religion is the cause of violence and hatred, and that it should be discouraged entirely?

THOMAS FARR: I would accept the proposition that some religious ideas are a cause of terrorism. But if one defines religion as the search for religious truth and accepts the possibility that such truth does exist, then religion is a universal endeavor, common to all. If this is true, the key is to invite it into politics, not to exclude it. Those who would make the secular argument — that is to say, the solution is to get religion out of politics, the public square and democratic deliberation about policies and laws — are making the same mistake that the Communists made. It assumes that human nature can be secular and that there is no transcendent truth.

We have seen this secular idea in the United States in a number of troubling areas. For example, when federal judge Vaughn Walker

Men light candles during a vigil to commemorate Pakistani Minorities Leader Shahbaz Bhatti. A Catholic and outspoken critic of Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy laws, Bhatti was shot and killed by gunmen March 2, 2011. overturned the Proposition 8 decision in California, which reaffirmed marriage between a man and a woman, he argued that the people who opposed same-sex marriage in California did so for religious reasons and that those reasons do not meet the standard of “rational scrutiny” required by the Constitution. This is a very dangerous proposition, because it is in effect declaring that the most sacred and important issues in human life cannot be involved in politics. If this proposition had been at work in American history, it would have excluded much of the founders’ work, the anti-slavery movement, and those who fought for women's suffrage. Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail would have been rejected as the basis for civil rights laws. Such thinking represents moral confusion of a very high order and, I would argue, constitutional confusion as well.

In the long run, I think the secularization that exists in a place like China is far more rooted than it is here, simply because the United States has a 200-year history of the belief that religion deserves a special status in our Constitution. And that gives me hope that the erosion of religious liberty that we’ve seen in the last couple of decades in the United States can be turned around.

COLUMBIA: What can Knights do practically to promote religious freedom in their homes and communities?

THOMAS FARR: First, do not be afraid to speak out on the basis of your religious beliefs — in a reasonable, persuasive and charitable way. Don’t accept the proposition that you have to keep your religious views to yourself and not take them into public life. The founders of the United States understood that religion is necessary to the health of a republic. It’s necessary for moral citizenship.

Secondly, support candidates — local, state and federal — who understand this vital issue and who will appoint judges who understand that religious liberty does not move religion out of public policy decision making.♦ FEBRUARY 2012

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Guarding Our House A K of C marshal service in the Philippines defends worshippers from potential terrorist attacks

by Ferdinandh B. Cabrera

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efore dawn breaks on Sunday morning, retired Philippine Army Sgt. Teodorico Bautista, 48, prepares himself with a flashlight before hitting the road to Immaculate Conception Cathedral, about half a kilometer from his home. He either rides on a padyak — a pedaled tricycle — or walks, but he makes sure that he is at the church before the first bell.

Bautista is the chief of a marshal group formed by Cotabato City Council 3504 in Mindanao, Philippines, to augment military and police forces against bombing threats in the cathedral compound. Once a specialist in intelligence work, Bautista now coordinates all threat information and immediately informs the parish and authorities of any potential dangers.

“I am doing this voluntarily to serve God because of my patriotism for this country and my promise of charity as a member of the Knights of Columbus,” he said.

A SENSE OF SECURITY, A SENSE OF DUTY On July 5, 2009, while Archbishop Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato celebrated morning Mass, a powerful bomb packed with nails and jagged iron exploded in front of Immaculate Conception Cathedral, killing five civilians immediately and injuring at least 30 others. The explosion occurred after persistent bomb threats had been leveled against churches in central Mindanao, and it was the fourth attempt to plant an improvised explosive device in the area surrounding the cathedral since 2003.

Apart from the tragic cost in human life, the blast had a second consequence: a noticeable drop in Mass attendance.

“The news broke my heart,” said Balbina Pasawilan, a 53year old woman who was returning from an earlier Mass when she heard about the explosion. “After that, there was apprehension that the incident would be followed by more bombings, so I decided not to attend Mass for the next few Sundays.”

For 71-year-old Zenaida Tato, the incident was a test of faith, as she continued attending Masses despite the danger.

“We lived here for more than five decades, mingling with other cultures and beliefs, and we are used to news about violence. But I was never affected by these atrocities,” she said.

“Instead, I continued my relationship with God.” In response to the decline in worshippers, the parish sought assistance from Council 3504, which led to the creation of the Knights’ marshal service.

“There was a great backlash as a result of threats to the church, and we were called to respond to the situation,” said Grand 20 ♦ C O L U M B I A ♦

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Knight Rey Anthony del Rosario. “Our sense of duty, charity and patriotism is needed, despite the risks we are facing.”

Dressed in long-sleeve white shirts and black pants, a squad of Knight marshals is deployed in every corner of Immaculate Conception Cathedral, working in shifts for each of the nine Masses that are offered every Sunday. The marshals, supervised by Bautista, ensure that motorcycles are thoroughly inspected and parked safely inside the cathedral gymnasium, which is 100 meters away from the church. Other vehicles are parked in a designated lot where routine checks are made with the use of bomb-sniffing dogs.

“We gained trust with churchgoers, treating them with respect, dignity and courteousness as we check their bags or vehicles,” Bautista stressed.

“We ease their anxiousness and make everybody comfortable,” added Jose Reymar Rosalinas, another marshal. “In the middle of solemn prayers, they are not thinking of any bomb threats or their vehicles getting stolen.”

Armed with whistles, flashlights, K of C identification cards and cell phones with emergency numbers, the marshals inspect suspicious items, bags and vehicles that go in and out of the cathedral compound. In many cases, marshals have successfully worked with authorities to report suspected individuals and vehicles.

“It’s like guarding your own house,” said Col. Dorotheo Jalandoni of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7, which is stationed in Cotabato City. He added that the Knights “know who their members are and are helping a lot as a force multiplier in our battle against terrorism.”

THREATS AND MOTIVES The bomber in the 2009 incident, who was caught on closedcircuit video feed, was unable to plant his bomb inside the cathedral. Instead, he left the explosive device in front of the church and timed the explosion for when worshippers would be exiting the cathedral.

At the time, the Philippine Army blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a Muslim secessionist group that is linked to the terrorist organization Jamaah Islamiyah. MILF, however, rebuffed this claim, saying that civilian attacks are against Islamic principles. The group’s spokesperson offered that the bombings could have been “the work of right-wing saboteurs opposed to peace talks.” The talks in question would forge a peace deal between the Philippine government and MILF, which has waged a war for decades to demand an independent state within Mindanao.

Photos by ferdinandh b. Cabrera

Above: Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cotabato City, Philippines, is pictured in November 2011. Following a terrorist bombing at the cathedral in 2009 and ongoing threats, local Knights began volunteering as marshals to secure the area around the cathedral during Masses.

Below: Philippine Army Maj. Charlie Escantilla (left) trains a group of Knight volunteers how to identify suspected bombs.

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Although a case was filed against the suspects, it is pending in the prosecutor’s office of a local court in Cotabato City.

According to Felisicimo Khu, the director for integrated police operations in Western Mindanao, prosecutors lack individuals to stand witness for fear that the culprits will retaliate against them and their families.

“The case is not moving at the moment. There are no affidavits of witnesses, nor suspects,” said Khu. According to police intelligence reports, the bomb-maker was a Filipino citizen with links to known terrorist organizations. He is believed to have orchestrated several bombings that have killed, injured and maimed many innocent civilians, and has been indicted in the Philippines for his role in multiple bombings since 2003. He is thought to be in hiding somewhere in central Mindanao and is considered by U.S. authorities to be a threat to both American and Filipino interests.

In August 2011, meanwhile, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front identified the top 10 people that they see as a threat to ongoing peace talks. Auxiliary Bishop Colin Bagaforo of Cotabato and Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela were among those cited, along with politicians and columnists. Several weeks later, police received intelligence reports that militants planned to bomb three churches in Cotabato City, including the cathedral. According to the reports, the threat was related to the so-called “spoilers list” and was clearly an attempt to intimidate.

Regardless of who is ultimately identified as responsible for the threats or bombings, a top government security analyst anonymously claimed that a primary motive is to gain the recognition and financial support of international terrorist groups. There is also number of secondary motives, ranging from extortion to eliminating political opponents or whistleblowers.

workshop. The lecture quickly turned conversational as Escantilla and his students traded questions about checking for suspected bombs.

“Has the enemy evolved in their strategies?” asked one participant.

“Yes, in fact. They are using the courier companies to illegally import some materials undetected,” said Escantilla. “It’s a global problem that we have to work together on, and we are so glad you have this initiative.”

Aside from the lecture and questions, the officers also screened short videos on how bombs are planned, triggered and impacted using different kind of explosives like mortars, rockets, grenades and land mines.

“We are showing you these to familiarize, so that you can report to us immediately when there are suspicions,” Escantilla explained. He added that several dud mortars and rockets, which have become potential sources for bomb manufacturing, are now in the hands of the enemy following conflicts in 2000 and 2008.

The November training was especially timely because of the number of late-night activities that took place at the cathedral during December — including a weeklong fiesta for the Immaculate Conception and the Simbáng Gabi, a traditional novena in honor of the Blessed Mother preceding Christmas.

Since it began, though, the Knights’ marshal service has functioned well, and people have begun to regain confidence in the safety of the environment.

Frank Cerdenia, a maintenance worker at the cathedral, has observed the positive developments firsthand; he previously discovered a bomb at the cathedral in 2005.

“Before the marshals came, I could say there was lax security,” Cerdenia said, “but now there is a big difference. People around here are more vigilant to check things.”

The marshals’ effort at the cathedral has been such a success that K of C members at other area councils have emulated the marshal service at their own parishes. Volunteers believe it is a task that must be undertaken, even if it involves the threat of danger from potential explosions or terrorist retaliation.

“What is more important is to save the lives of innocent people,” said Bautista. “It is our duty as members of the Knights of Columbus to protect the innocent and the weak against the threats of evil.”♦

“There was a great backlash as a result of threats to the church, and we were called to respond to the situation. Our sense of duty, charity and patriotism is needed, despite the risks we are facing.”

TRAINING TO PROTECT To combat terrorism threats, the K of C marshals on Nov. 6, 2011, were called to attend a bomb awareness workshop.

Inside the city council’s session hall, just beside the cathedral, around 30 Knights sat in front of a table displaying different types of explosives. The workshop was preceded by Mass.

“Be careful of moving around guys. We have a lot of explosives here,” said Joel Cadelina, financial secretary of Council 3504.

At 8 a.m., officers from the 6th Explosives Ordnance Division, headed by Army Maj. Charlie Escantilla, started the 22 ♦ C O L U M B I A ♦

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FERDINANDH B. CABRERA writes for MindaNews from Cotabato City, Philippines, where he is a member of Mary Queen of Peace Council 8134.

Solidarity in Little Saigon Knights and members of the Vietnamese Catholic community support their persecuted brothers and sisters

by Elisabeth Deffner

A woman holds a candle during the opening ceremony of the holy year celebration outside a Catholic church near Hanoi, Vietnam.

CNS photo/Kham, reuters

A

ccompanied by hundreds of parishioners from central Hanoi’s Thai Ha Parish, Redemptorist Father Joseph Nguyen Van Phuong made his way to the People’s Committee of Hanoi to submit an official complaint on Dec. 2, 2011. He wanted Vietnamese authorities to cease expropriating land that the Redemptorists had purchased in 1928.

Father Phuong filed his complaint, but trouble started after he left the People’s Committee.

Police and militiamen, with batons at the ready, surrounded the priest and his parishioners. When the mob approached the priest, a parishioner pushed herself in front of

him, begging them not to harm Father Phuong. Instead, they beat her so severely that she was sent to the hospital.

Horrific as this incident was, the situation for Vietnamese Catholics is not as bad as it is for other Christian faith groups, says Ken Nguyen, co-founder of Vietnamese Martyrs Council 14445 in Santa Ana, Calif. “Others have experienced horrible abuses,” but with Catholics, the government is a little more cautious, he said, because the Vatican has had some diplomatic influence in speaking for the country’s nearly 6 million Catholics, who constitute about 7 percent of the population and the largest religious minority.

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RAISING AWARENESS Vietnamese Catholics fortunately have the support of their expatriate brothers and sisters, particularly in a Southern California enclave known as Little Saigon.

Far from their homeland, the world’s largest concentration of Vietnamese immigrants has settled in Westminster and Garden Grove, neighboring cities in the heart of Orange County, Calif. The first cluster of immigrants settled there after landing at Camp Pendleton, a Marine base in the southern part of the county that was one of four U.S. centers to receive refugees after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Their numbers were bolstered by a second wave of refugees that fled in the 1970s and 80s.

About a quarter of the 60-plus parishes in the Diocese of Orange offer Mass in Vietnamese. Here, Pope John Paul II appointed the first Vietnamese bishop in the United States, Bishop Dominic Luong, as an auxiliary of the diocese in 2003. Here also, a group of Vietnamese Catholics has shone a spotlight on the fight for religious freedom in Vietnam.

Chartered four years ago as the first Vietnamese-speaking council on the West Coast, Council 14445 now has nearly 120 members. The council is not based at a parish, but at the diocese’s Vietnamese Catholic Center, which is located near Little Saigon and serves all the Vietnamese Catholics in the diocese.

As one of its goals, the council strives to connect with the entire Vietnamese-American community — not just Viet24 ♦ C O L U M B I A ♦

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namese Catholics. Knights organized a candlelight vigil in December 2011 to bring attention to religious freedom and human rights issues in Vietnam. The event drew a crowd of 2,000 to hear remarks by Bishop Luong — a charter council member — and a recorded interview with Father Phuong from Thai Ha. The vigil also featured interviews with Bishop Vincent Nguyen Van Long and Bishop Vincent Nguyen Manh Hieu, the first Vietnamese bishops in Australia and Canada, respectively.

“We want the Vietnamese community here in California to be aware of what’s happening in Vietnam, to raise awareness of religious abuse and human rights violations,” Ken Nguyen explained.

After the event — which was heavily publicized on television and in newspaper stories around the world — the council received many calls from friends who still live in Vietnam.

“They said, ‘We feel so great that you did this for us,’” Nguyen said. “‘Thank you for fighting with us.’”

The council is also developing twin websites — one in Vietnamese, one in English — which will allow people to contact their federal representatives and draw attention to religious repression in Vietnam. In addition, Nguyen noted, there are several K of C priests who are currently in Vietnam, holding regular underground meetings with Catholic men.

Father Michael Mai, former director of the Vietnamese Catholic Center, said that concern for religious liberty in his

CNS photo/reuters

Clergy, religious and leaders of the Vietnamese community in Orange County, Calif., participate in a candlelight prayer vigil on Dec. 10. Approximately 2,000 people attended the event, which was organized by Vietnamese Martyrs Council 14445.

homeland fits well with the Knights’ principles, which first attracted him to the Order. When Father Mai first came to the United States in 1975, he had nothing — and then he received a chalice from the Knights of Columbus. As cofounder and chaplain of Council 14445, he is helping others experience the value of the Order — and offering them a chance to stand in solidarity with their oppressed brothers.

It’s an uphill battle with the government, he admitted.

Communists “do not believe in spiritual beliefs,” he said.

A HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS REPRESSION Thai Ha is merely one of the latest examples efforts by the Vietnamese government to stifle religious freedom. When Jesuits opened the first permanent Christian mission in Vietnam in 1615, the area — then comprised of three neighboring kingdoms — had an imperial edict against Christianity. The persecution against Catholics in Vietnam is sometimes dubbed “the Great Massacre,” and it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Christians there suffered and died for their faith. In 1988, Pope John Paul II canonized 117 of these individuals — St. Andrew Dung Lac and Companions — whose feast day is celebrated Nov. 24.

In the late 19th century, a treaty with France guaranteed religious freedom for Catholics in Vietnam — but that freedom was short-lived. Catholics and other Christians have been fighting, and dying, for the right to worship ever since the French colonists were defeated in 1954 and the nation plunged into civil war. The end of the war in 1975 did not ease the restrictions on religious liberty, either. Once north and south were reunited under the Communist government, all people of faith were placed in a precarious position. Even Buddhists have been threatened and abused.

In recent years, government officials have destroyed church property, torn down chapel buildings, and arrested clergy and worshipers. Christians’ homes have been burned to the ground, and believers have been intimidated, threatened and beaten.

On June 26, 2011, a Mennonite pastor from Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) was taken into custody and beaten until his jaw and hand were broken. The following month, police and security forces burst into a worship service in the central highlands and began kicking and beating worshipers, members of an ethnic minority; 16 were left seriously injured. In November, worshipers at a Christian house church near Hanoi were brutally beaten by a gang who threatened to kill the pastor if he continued his work. At the time, though, they merely beat him until he lost consciousness.

In Hanoi, the decades-long conflict over the Redemptorists’ lakeside property has sometimes involved quasi-legal action.

But more often than not, threats, violence and terrorism have been the basis of the government’s mostly successful efforts to squeeze the Redemptorists out. In all, the order’s 15-plus acres have been whittled down to less than one, as the government has claimed the land as “public property.”

Online Catholic news agency AsiaNews reported that in November, a uniformed man burst into the church during Mass. Gripping an electric baton, he headed straight to the altar, hurling threats and insults at the priest. Another AsiaNews story stated that a group of hooligans desecrated the Eucharist and poured dirty oil on a statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. And following the violence on Dec. 2, Thai Ha clergy — including Father Phuong — and dozens of parishioners were arrested and bused to a rehabilitation center for prostitutes, where they were detained for about 12 hours.

After the event, the council received many calls from friends who still live in Vietnam.

“They said, ‘We feel so great that you did this for us. Thank you for fighting with us.’”

A FREE VOICE The human rights group Freedom House has acquired documents from the Vietnamese government that, it says, show “a concerted and ongoing government campaign to arrest and reverse the country’s growing Christian movements.” One of these documents expressed concern that Christian churches had been involved in the successful effort to bring down Communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

“Vietnam’s policies,” a release from Freedom House said, “are driven by the assumption that Roman Catholicism and Protestant Christianity are seamlessly connected with Vietnam’s imperialist enemies past, present, real and imagined.”

Whatever the motivation for Vietnam’s oppression of religious practice, Council 14445 is going to continue to raise awareness of the issue — and provide opportunities for others to join the fight for religious freedom.

“We are fighting so hard for Thai Ha because it is the frontier,” Nguyen said simply. “If they can crush Thai Ha, they will continue their abuse — and not just of Catholics, but of other religions too.”

Since Catholics in the United States and other parts of the world enjoy far greater freedom than their brothers and sisters in Vietnam, Father Mai added, it is their responsibility to use that freedom on behalf of those who are suffering.

“In Vietnam, the people could not talk with freedom,” he said. “We live in a free country; we have a free voice. We need to support them.”♦ ELISABETH DEFFNER writes from Orange, Calif.

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KNIG HTS IN ACTI ON

Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle 5485 in Chapel Hill, N.C., sold potted perennials to raise money for the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va. After learning that the memorial was experiencing severe financial hardship, Squires raised $2,000 for the facility in just three weeks.

STEWARDS OF THE SEA

Father Crisostomo Council 6000 and Father Crisostomo Circle 2047, both in Cabantuan City, Luzon, co-sponsored a tour for young people of an area ocean adventure park. Those in attendance learned about biodiversity, the importance of marine life, and how to maintain a healthy aquatic environment.

CHAPEL FUNDING

St. Joseph Council 443 in New York hosted a fish fry to raise money for the Bishop Gerald T. Walsh Chapel at Good Shepherd School.

More than 150 people attended the event, which included a dinner of baked salmon, fried cod and haddock, various pasta dishes, shrimp cocktail, and clam chowder. Parishioners donated baked goods, while local restaurants contributed gift certificates. The event raised $1,000.

A PROPER SALUTE

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Assembly in Arlington Heights, Ill., hosted a fundraiser that netted $4,200 for Salute Inc., an organization that aids wounded military personnel and their families.

PREVENTING VIOLENCE

Carter P. Barrett (right) of Fort Belvoir (Va.) Council 11170 presents Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, with a CD titled A Rosary for Our Nation’s Military Community. Knights conceived of a project to record the rosary on CD for members of the armed forces.

Council members participated in all aspects of the project’s execution and presented one of the CD copies to Archbishop Broglio during his visit to Fort Belvoir.

26 ♦ C O L U M B I A ♦

St. Ninian Council 1105 in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and Msgr. Hugh MacPherson Council 14596 in St. Andrews organized a “Men’s Respect For Women March” that was promoted by area radio stations and newspapers. Approximately 275 people participated in the event, walking 1.5 kilometers to Columbus Field, where a speech was given on domestic abuse. A barbecue at the conclusion of the march raised $1,414 for the five daughters of a slain university professor, in whose honor the march was initiated.

RELICS FOR CHAPEL

With assistance from several contacts in Rome, Cardinal Gibbons Council 2521 in Nottingham, Md., obtained and donated four first-class relics to the new chapel operated by the Apostleship of the

FEBRUARY 2012

Richard Fullerton and Bob Kunz of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Council 7623 in Hale, Mich., install a deck railing for a local widow with cancer. Knights installed the railing so that the woman could easily and safely leave her home.

Sea. The relics come from St. Thérèse of Lisieux; St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Monks; St. Colette, founder of the Colettine Poor Clares; and St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionist Congregation.

SHRIMP FOR SCHOLARSHIPS

Palms Council 6673 in Shawnee Mission, Kan., and its ladies’ auxiliary co-hosted a shrimp dinner for more than 600 people. Funds from the dinner support a scholarship for an area eighth-grader.

lounge at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. Since 2005, the assembly has donated more that $7,000 to make improvements to the lounge.

CEMETERY CLEANUP

Mishawaka (Ind.) Council 1878 held a cemetery cleanup day at St. Joseph Cemetery. Knights removed brush that covered grave markers, trimmed bushes and raked leaves. The cemetery is owned by St. Joseph Parish in Mishawaka and is used by several area parishes.

CANS FOR HOSPITAL

FARM STAND

Msgr. Conrad Saille Council 1002 in Antigo, Wis., hosted an aluminum can drive that raised $5,000 for the Radiation Care Center at Langlade Hospital. Additional funds came from the council’s bingo games.

St. Joan of Arc Council 12054 in Ridgely, Md., set up a farm stand at its parish to sell fresh fruit and vegetables for charity. Knights offered fresh-cut sweet corn, cantaloupe, watermelon and berries — all of which was donated through the farm owned by council member Michael Musachio. The stand raised approximately $350 to assist needy members of the parish.

LOUNGING AROUND

Christopher Columbus Assembly in Plano, Texas, donated $1,000 to purchase new furniture for the USO

BOTTOM LEFT: Photo by Thomas Landwermeyer

REMEMBERING D-DAY

REPORTS FROM COUNCILS, ASSEMBLIES AND COLUMBIAN SQUIRES CIRCLES

K N I G H T S I N AC T I O N ABBIE’S RUN

and their family members.

Archbishop Broglio is a member of Santo Tomas Apostol Council 12027 in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico.

Cahokia Council 4596 in East St. Louis, Ill., hosted a poker run to benefit children with disabilities.

Named “Abbie’s Run” in honor of a girl who is sponsored by the council, the event raised $700.

HONORING A NEW CITIZEN

MISSION: POSSIBLE

Father John Halpin Council 5657 in Beckley, W.Va., hosted a fifth Sunday breakfast to benefit Mission: Possible!, a parish group that offers building and repair services to depressed areas in southern parts of the state. The event raised $340.

CANES DONATED

Father James J. Scanlon Council 6936 in Highland Springs, Va., donated several orthopedic walking canes to St. Joseph’s Home for the Aged in Richmond. The home is operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor.

BOOK SALE

Msgr. John L. McLaughlin Council 9475 in Mount Pleasant, S.C., held a weeklong book sale that raised more than $8,000 for charity. Started in 2003, the semiannual event includes an inventory of more than 17,000 books collected and sorted by council members.

Urban Stang (right) of St. Albert (Alberta) Council 4742 talks with members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during a council-sponsored Mass and pancake breakfast honoring the military and other local first responders. More than 60 police, fire, military and prison personnel were honored at the Mass before meeting with parishioners at the breakfast that followed. tion programs sponsored by the Douglas County Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol. Among other things, the donation will allow the squadron to purchase safety vests that are required for cadets or other personnel working on the flight line who are not part of the aircrew.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Photo courtesy of The Register, Diocese of Salina, Kan.

PERENNIAL GARDEN

St. John Council 4797 in Hutchinson, Minn., planted a 130-foot perennial garden for residents of The Oaks & The Pines, an assisted-living center for senior citizens. The garden will feature 500 tulips in bloom each spring, followed by 250 other perennials throughout the summer.

FUNDS FOR CADETS

Immaculate Heart of Mary Council 12845 in Gardnerville, Nev., presented a donation to the cadet educa-

BIKE COOPERATIVE

In partnership with the Social Concerns Committee at St. Mary Magdalene Parish, members of Charles Dombrowski Council 3432 in Waupaca, Wis., helped collect more than 680 used bicycles to be donated to the Working Bikes Cooperative of Chicago. The bikes will be refurbished and given to needy people in the United States and in Third World countries to be used either as conveyances or as power sources to operate generators or water pumps.

Bernard A. O’Connor Assembly in Morristown, Tenn., presented a U.S. flag and certificate to Father Joseph Hammond, pastor of St. Patrick Church, in honor of his naturalization as an American citizen. The flag was flown over the headquarters of the Afghanistan Engineer District in Kabul.

BREAD AND ROSES

Members of Prince of Peace Council 11537 in Birmingham, Ala., and their families periodically participate in a program called “Bread and Roses,” which allows church and community organizations to serve lunch to the homeless and needy at the Church of the Reconciler in downtown Birmingham.

CALLED TO WORSHIP

Cathedral Council 9525 in Fresno, Calif., donated $3,000 to St. John Cathedral to help purchase new bells for the church.

FOR THE MILITARY

Doug Bart and Vince Miller of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Council 13300 in Wildwood, Fla., stack diapers that the council donated to Hands of Mercy Everywhere, a Christian home for teenage mothers and their children. Knights donated 3,000 diapers and $1,000 to the organization.

Immediately following a memorial Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., Father Vincent S. Sikora Council 7992 in Burke, Va., presented Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, with a $2,000 donation to provide pastoral care to the 1.5 million Catholics serving in the armed forces

Members of Russell (Kan.) Council 3034 take bids via phone and operate a television camera during Smoky Hills Public Television’s annual art auction.

Knights volunteered at the event, which serves as the station’s most popular fundraiser.

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♦ C O L U M B I A ♦ 27

K N I G H T S I N AC T I O N

cilities where injured soldiers are treated before being moved to Germany. When the sweatpants arrived in the Middle East, they were received and distributed by St. Michael the Archangel Round Table at the Bagram Air Force Base, which is sponsored by Msgr. Robert D. Goodill and St. Luke Council 11229 in Erie, Pa. BINGO FOR VETERANS

Bob Devine, Jon Schulte and Tim Burnison of St. Michael Council 12617 in Sioux Falls, S.D., assemble crosses made from the old pews at St. Joseph Cathedral. After the pews at the cathedral were replaced, Knights volunteered more than 275 hours to assemble the crosses from the reclaimed wood of the old pews, which were then presented to 210 priests and deacons from throughout the Diocese of Sioux Falls. Bishop Paul J. Sawin, who is a member of Marquette Council 815, blessed the crosses prior to their distribution.

DINNER FOR SEMINARY

Vietnamese Martyrs Council 14445 in Santa Ana, Calif., organized a charity dinner to benefit the Redemptorist Seminary in Vietnam. Held in the heart of Little Saigon with more than 400 people in attendance, the event raised approximately $34,000 to fund much-needed renovations and improvements to the school, which was damaged by flooding. At the event, the council also presented Father Joseph TienLoc, director of the school, with three chalices engraved with the names of deceased Knights for donation to three new Vietnamese priests.

CHALICES TO INDIA

During a mission trip to India, Fran Heinen, Chuck Fiebig and Norm Howells of Pope John Paul I Assembly in Bella Vista, Ark., presented two assembly-sponsored memorial chalices to Father Jose Subhash, superior general of

28 ♦ C O L U M B I A ♦

the Indian Missionary Society in Varanasi. The chalice and paten sets, commemorating deceased members of the assembly, were given to two men who were recently ordained to the priesthood.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

San Carlos Council 5708 in Pangasinan, Luzon, sorted recyclable waste at its council hall for resale to traveling scrap dealers. Proceeds were used to purchase paper and writing implements for area schoolchildren.

SWEATS FOR SOLDIERS

Cardinal Terence Cooke Council 8495 in Evans, Ga., and St. Francis of Assisi Council 12422 in West Des Moines, Iowa, donated funds to purchase sweatpants for the trauma clinic at the Craig Joint Theater Hospital in Bagram, Afghanistan. The hospital uses about 50 pairs of sweatpants each month because it is one of the main fa-

FEBRUARY 2012

Bishop Martin D. McNamara Assembly in Kankakee, Ill., and Dr. Thomas A. Dooley Assembly in Dupage County brought 85 wheelchair-bound veterans to and from a special bingo tournament hosted in their honor.

Knights raised $750 to purchase food for the event and to give out cash prizes to all those in attendance.

CHURCH REPAIRS

Members of Pius IX Council 4396 in Lansdale, Pa., undertook a number of repairs at their church and school.

Knights replaced damaged wallboard, painted, installed new lights, reworked all of the valves in a bathroom and wired new smart boards in several classrooms.

HELPING TO SEE

Santa Maria Council 1443 in Haddonfield, N.J., collected 633 used eyeglasses for New Eyes for the Needy, an organization that collects, repairs and distributes used glasses to needy people in the United States and in 53 additional countries around the world.

The council even erected a permanent drop-off container at its council hall to facilitate ongoing donations. Meanwhile, Father Justin Council 5670 in Cheektowaga, N.Y., donated a GPS unit to Guiding Eyes for the Blind, a nonprofit school that trains guide dogs for people with visual

Chris Hummel and David Meis of Bishop Edward C. Daly Council 644 in Urbandale, Iowa, carefully dry a pipe from the 1963 Casavant pipe organ at the Basilica of St. John in Des Moines. Knights and other volunteers joined five professional organ builders to clean the basilica’s organ and restore it to its original voicing. In addition to proving manpower to remove, clean, tune and replace the organ’s 1,992 pipes, the council also donated $30,000 toward the restoration effort, which will eventually include additional changes and modernizations. impairments. This gift will enable the Guiding Eyes van to safely and efficiently transport puppies from the New York City area to volunteer foster parents and return them as adult dogs for the completion of their training.

VOCATIONS CHALICE

Sir Knight Modesto Sanchez Circle 5332 in Peralta, N.M., presented Father Hoi Tran, pastor of Our Lady Of Guadalupe Church, with a vocations chalice. The chalice will travel from family to family each week to pray for increased vocations to the priesthood, religious life and marriage.

K N I G H T S I N AC T I O N

band, Brian, that the dishwasher at the facility was a residential model and not adequate to the demands of the kitchen. Together, Council 11164 and Msgr. Joseph A. Cook Assembly donated more than $5,000 to buy a new dishwasher.

ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETITION

Elmer Nanquilada of Father Thomas Lane Council 3645 in Renton, Wash., prepares corn on the cob during the “Taste of St. Anthony” fundraiser at St. Anthony Church. Several years ago, the parish took on a huge debt to expand its church and school, including the construction of a new gymnasium. Knights sponsored a booth at the “Taste of St. Anthony” fundraiser, the goal of which is to raise funds to pay down the expansion-related debt. By selling mini hamburgers, corn on the cob, and pork and beans, the council helped raise more than $7,000.

St. Bernard Council 14269 in Brooklyn, N.Y., sponsored an entrepreneurial competition at two Catholic schools to promote leadership and creative thinking.

Open to students in grades five through eight, the competition required participants to create an original business idea for a new product or service that would benefit society and turn a profit. The top four essayists won $500 each.

BABY SHOWER

Mount Greylock Council 230 in Adams, Mass., held a pro-life baby shower to benefit the charity center at the Parish of Pope John Paul the Great. Knights collected baby clothes, food, diapers and other necessities for distribution to needy members of the community.

VISITING CHRIST

STROKE RECOVERY

Matki Boskiej Bolesnej Council 14989 in Mierzyn, Poland, sponsored a pilgrimage for council members and their families to visit one of the largest statues of Christ in the world, located in Świebodzin.

DOING THE DISHES

St. Mary, Mystical Rose Council 7561 in Armada, Mich., came to the aid of a council member who suffered a stroke. Knights renovated the man’s home so that he could come home and live with his family instead of staying in an extendedcare facility.

An observation by the wife of a member of St. Benedict Council 11164 in Sarnia, Ontario, prompted the donation of a commercial dishwasher to St. Joseph’s Hospice. Deb Winterton, who is a volunteer at the hospice, mentioned to her hus-

St. Scholastica Council 14485 in Lecanto, Fla., restored an outdoor shrine to St. Joseph that had been neglected after construction on the council’s new parish church was complete.

Casey Amedee (left) of Genevieve of Paris Council 13397 in Thibodaux, La., and volunteer Eugene Chauvin install a new drainage pipe at the playground at St. Genevieve School. Knights donated volunteer manpower and $600 worth of materials to install the much-needed drainage system at the school.

Knights sanded and refinished all of the wood that comprised the shrine, washed the lattice backing on either side, re-stained the 12-foot cross, and purchased a new statue of St. Joseph. Knights also created a landscaped “yard” with 2,000 pounds of decorative rock to surround the area.

men in attendance. The daylong conference began with Mass at the university chapel, followed by a panel of speakers who discussed pornography addiction, being a Catholic gentleman, the virtues of faith, hope and love, and natural family planning. Vendor tables on site also offered faith resources.

A WEIGHT LIFTED

MINISTRY FIESTA

St. Martin Council 2623 in Kingsville, Texas, donated $300 to Kleberg County Constable Brian Vickers to support his weightlifting program for wayward youth.

Vickers, a 2007 bench press and dead lifting world champion, operates a program wherein troubled teens can redirect their energies through exercise and competitive weightlifting. The funds will help support the program’s continued expansion.

Christ the Savior Council 9129 in El Paso, Texas, hosted a “Ministry Fiesta” at its parish. Members of every parish ministry, along with their families, were invited to the event for a full day of free food, socializing and music.

SHRINE RESTORED MEN’S CONFERENCE

Father August Zeller Council 4118 in Wichita, Kan., presented the first-ever Catholic men’s conference at Newman University, with close to 80

ULTRASOUND MONITOR

Blessed Pope John XXIII Council 5987 and Father James McCarten Assembly, both in Monroe, Conn., donated a television monitor to the Hopeline Pregnancy Resource Center in Bridgeport.

The new monitor will be attached to the center’s ultrasound machine so that patients can view their unborn children.

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K N I G H T S I N AC T I O N

categorize the approximately 25,000 items that are offered for sale. In 2011, Knights volunteered 1,600 hours to make the event a success and raised more than $10,000 dollars.

FIGHTING FOR LIFE

CORRECTING A WRONG MAN’S BEST FRIEND

Silver City Council 2 in Meriden, Conn., sponsored an adoption day at the Meriden Humane Society to raise funds for the organization and to boost awareness of the need to adopt pets from a shelter rather than a pet store. During the event, nine

cats found new homes, and applications were received for six kittens and three dogs. The council also raised about $200 for the humane society through food sales and a raffle.

A TASTE OF ITALY

St. Stephen the Martyr Council 14122 in Lilburn, Ga., hosted a spaghetti dinner fundraiser to benefit a parishioner with cancer. The event included an Italian dinner, a silent auction, a raffle and a 50-50 drawing. In total, the event raised $14,600 to help support the parishioner and her family.

DONATION FOR VETERANS

Louis Carter (left) and Ralph McDonald of Christ Our Redeemer Council 13527 in Niceville, Fla., cut pieces of trim while working at a Habitat for Humanity project in Fort Walton Beach. Knights tackled various outdoor and indoor tasks at the new home, including the installation of French drains, tile flooring, baseboards, kitchen cabinetry, and doors and doorframes.

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St. Cecilia Council 14368 in DeMotte, Ind., donated $500 and a new Blu-ray Disc player to the Indiana Veterans’ Home in West Lafayette.

QUITE A SALE

Each year, Immaculate Conception Council 8951 in Port Perry, Ontario, hosts one of the largest yard sales in Southeast Ontario. Beginning in May, council members collect, sort and

FEBRUARY 2012

Msgr. James R. Jones Council 3303 in New Bern, N.C., took up a special collection at its parish to benefit Lupita Corona, a parishioner who was struck by a drunk driver and whose family was facing mounting medical bills. The collection raised $4,750 for Corona, 17, and her family.

Mike McDougall (second from left) of Father Albert Newman Council 8470 in Calgary, Alberta, holds an aspersorium of holy water while Bishop Frederick B. Henry of Calgary blesses a plaque commemorating the Knights’ contribution to St. Mary’s University College. With support from councils throughout the province and the Supreme Council, Knights donated $235,000 to renovate an old Protestant church into the university’s new Father Michael J. McGivney Hall, the only school of its kind in Canada that prepares teachers to work specifically in Catholic schools. Also pictured are: Father Kevin Tumback (far left) and Father Leo Felix Monroe (center).

CHURCH MAINTAINED

Members of Webster (Mass.)

Council 228 volunteer at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Dudley to supplement the work done by the church’s on-staff maintenance man.

Knights have repaired parking lot lights and signage, and have mowed and landscaped the parish grounds. This frees the maintenance man to concentrate on cleaning and repairing other parts of the church building.

HELPING THE HOMELESS

Bishop Scalabrini Council 3547 in Johnston, R.I., launched a “Help the Homeless” program in conjunction with an area shelter. Knights regularly prepare bagged lunches and care packages that are delivered to the shelter for distribution to the needy and homeless.

GRANTING WISHES

Sydney (Nova Scotia) Council 1060 donated $10,000 to the Breton chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation so that Adam Latter, 6, could visit Disney World. Latter was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia after his second birthday.

kofc.org exclusive See more “Knights in Action” reports and photos at www.kofc.org/ knightsinaction

UPPER LEFT: Paul Saulnier/Holliston Reporter

Holliston (Mass.) Selectman Jay Marsden (left) chooses a winning raffle ticket while (from left) Tony Alexander, Al Scaramella and Mitch Liro of St. Mary’s Council 14224 in Holliston look on. In addition to sponsoring the raffle, Knights also took the opportunity at the event to distribute the proceeds from the contest to the Holliston Senior Center, the Holliston Pantry Shelf and the American Legion.

Father John W. Howard Council 8500 in Highland, Mich., sponsored a benefit breakfast to aid Dominic Tyner. Tyner, 8, has a rare autoimmune disease that causes his body to attack itself and must travel about 300 miles every three months for treatments. The event raised about $4,800.

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K N I G H T S I N AC T I O N

COMBATING POVERTY

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All photos by Charles Goolsby

A YEARLONG PROJECT by Knights in Virginia didn’t help just one organization in need; it will instead go a long way toward helping countless others in one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the entire state.

Virginia Highlands Council 10979 in Abingdon made major repairs and renovations to the headquarters of Buchanan Neighbors United Inc. in Grundy, an organization that provides aid to families throughout Buchanan County. By working with other councils in the area, Knights raised more than $7,000 to undertake the project, which included reconstructing the building’s porch, adding a new heat pump system, and removing and repouring concrete.

But Knights didn’t stop at merely funding the project. Several council members took part in planning and executing the renovations, as well. And with its new headquarters, BNU will be better equipped to help the most needy residents of Virginia.

[From top] Members of Virginia Highlands Council 10979 in Abingdon work to add a porch to and renovate the headquarters of Buchanan Neighbors United Inc. in Grundy. • Jose Olguin and Larry Houston measure and cut a piece of lumber. • Larry Pionk attaches a piece of wood to a new cinder-block retaining wall.

NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE/PROVINCE ZIP/POSTAL CODE Complete this coupon and mail to: The Father McGivney Guild, 1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven, CT 06510-3326 or enroll online at: www.fathermcgivney.org

OFFICIAL FEB. 1, 2012:

To owners of Knights of Columbus insurance policies and persons responsible for payment of premiums on such policies: Notice is hereby given that in accordance with the provisions of Section 84 of the Laws of the Order, payment of insurance premiums due on a monthly basis to the Knights of Columbus by check made payable to Knights of Columbus and mailed to same at PO Box 1492, NEW HAVEN, CT 06506-1492, before the expiration of the grace period set forth in the policy. In Canada: Knights of Columbus, Place d’Armes Station, P.O. Box 220, Montreal, QC H2Y 3G7 ALL MANUSCRIPTS, PHOTOS, ARTWORK, EDITORIAL MATTER, AND ADVERTISING INQUIRIES SHOULD BE MAILED TO: COLUMBIA, PO BOX 1670, NEW HAVEN, CT 06507-0901.

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FEBRUARY 2012

♦ C O L U M B I A ♦ 31

C O LU M B I A N I S M B Y D E G R E E S

Charity MEMBERS OF San Juan Nepomuceno Council 12075 in Bacolod City, Visayas, move a guardhouse at their parish in advance of its dismantling and replacement. In preparation for the blessing of a new chapel at the church, and over a two-day federal holiday, Knights undertook a massive cleaning project at their parish. Among their biggest duties were cleaning the parish grounds and replacing the guardhouse, which is used by the parking lot watchman during church events.

Unity

Fraternity

Patriotism

JAMES LINTON (center) of Bishop Hill Council 5468 in Campbell River, British Columbia, cuts the ribbon at the start of a walk-a-thon for Special Olympics with assistance from Campbell River Mayor Charlie Cornfield (left) and State Special Olympics Program Director Pedro Capitulo. The walk-a-thon raised $7,100 to support athletes with disabilities.

• British Columbia District #9 hosted a clergy appreciation barbecue at the historic Father Pandosy Mission in Kelowna. All priests and religious in attendance enjoyed lunch before Knights presented Bishop John D. Corriveau of Nelson with a check for $11,350 to foster vocations.

MEMBERS OF San Luis de Gonzaga Council 14893 in Gingoog City, Mindanao, choose winning tickets during a council-sponsored raffle.

Knights hosted a raffle to correspond with the founding of its council.

Prizes included 10 winners of 500 pesos each, a television, a washing machine and a scooter.

• Father O’Byrne Council 3574 in Jacksonville, N.C., presented a chalice, paten and rosary to Father Tony DeCandia, council chaplain, upon his advancement to the Fourth Degree.

FAITHFUL NAVIGATOR Antonio Amadeo (left) of Father William F. Morgan Assembly in Clarksville, Tenn., and Deputy Grand Knight John Cruz of Father John A. Nolan Council 3537 speak with Maj. Gabriel Mesa during a K of C-sponsored event to greet troops returning from Afghanistan. Knights welcomed members of the 101st Air Assault Division with snacks and beverages while the soldiers reconvened with their families. Maj. Mesa is also a member of Council 3537.

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FEBRUARY 2012

KNIGHT S O F CO LU MBU S

Building a better world one council at a time Every day, Knights all over the world are given opportunities to make a difference — whether through community service, raising money or prayer. We celebrate each and every Knight for his strength, his compassion and his dedication to building a better world.

TO

BE FEATURED HERE , SEND YOUR COUNCIL’ S

C OLUMBIA , 1 C OLUMBUS P LAZA , N EW

Members of St. Padre Pio Council 15015 in Starachowice, Poland, cut planks of lumber while framing the roof at their new parish rectory. Knights volunteered several hundred hours to help construct the rectory, focusing specifically on installing floors and the roof.

“K NIGHTS IN A CTION ” H AVEN , CT 06510-3326

PHOTO AS WELL AS ITS DESCRIPTION TO : OR E - MAIL : COLUMBIA @ KOFC . ORG .

FEBRUARY 2012

♦ C O L U M B I A ♦ 33

PLEASE, DO ALL YOU CAN TO ENCOURAGE PRIESTLY AND RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS. YOUR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

KEEP T HE FAITH ALIV E

‘I HAD NO FEAR OF DEDICATING MY LIFE IN SERVICE.’ It was learning about the lives of the saints that first attracted me to the priesthood. Their stories of heroic virtue and trust in the Father’s will demonstrated how to respond to God’s call to serve him.

I joined the Knights of Columbus when I was 18. The example of my father, grandfather and the Knights at my home council had inspired me to live for something and someone other than myself. Strengthening my understanding of God’s call, they showed me that serving a parish community, the whole Church and Jesus Christ is a life of true joy and deep meaning.

When I heard God’s call to enter the seminary at the end of high school, I knew how to respond. I had no fear of dedicating my life in service to others.

Knights should know that their steady example inspires vocations to the priesthood and the religious life at a time when our culture does not encourage young people to pursue lives of service to the Church.

Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

DANIEL J. SEDLACEK Diocese of La Crosse, Wis.