Knights urge stronger pro-life action.

Toronto--When the Supreme Council of the International Catholic men's group, the Knights of Columbus, with 2,000 members in attendance, met in Toronto at the beginning of August, it faced a resolution by a New York chapter calling on Knights to take more vigorous action against politicians who are pro-abortion. Ed McKee, co-chairman of this New York Council, said that they were getting nowhere with tactics employed presently; children are being killed at the rate of a million a year in the U.S. alone, he stated.

However, Canadian Phil Zakoor, chief administrative officer of the Ontario State Council, objected to the New York resolution calling for such things as advertisements at election times to encourage pro-life voting, saying "We (in Canada) take a softer approach. We're not backing down on it, but I guess we're more subtle about what we do." He referred to Rose Sunday and its financial collection as sufficient for the Canadian Knights' contribution to the pro-life cause.

In a speech to the organization the next day, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson acknowledged that the order has the resources to do more to defend life than it has done; the Knights of Columbus would continue its "defence of human life at all stages, from conception to natural death," and he called as well for new initiatives and new bold measures. (Editor: Notwithstanding some outstanding individual pro-life Knights, it is well-known that the K. of C. have resisted all attempts to call to task even their own members who run for public office and then prove to be in favour of legal abortion or some other blatant contradiction to their Catholic faith.)

At the conclusion of the convention the Supreme Council passed several strong resolutions, including one rejecting experiments which destroy human embryos and another opposing any government action which would promote or legalize abortion, infanticide, or euthanasia.

The Knights will also declare March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, as the Day of the Unborn Child. following a decision by the bishops of Mexico a year ago, and the bishops of Nicaragua a year before that.

As for the New York resolution, the Council affirmed the order's policy against providing a public forum for anyone--especially public officials and candidates for public office--who does not support legal protection for unborn children.