INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF CATHOLIC KNIGHTS, PERTH, AUSTRALIA SEPTEMBER 2015

POST CONFERENCE STATEMENT

Under the Chairmanship of President David Huppatz (Australia), the Twenty-sixth meeting of the Council of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights (IACK) was held 5-12 September 2015 in Perth, Australia. The hosts of the International Council were the Knights of the Southern Cross. Delegates from nine of the fifteen member Orders were present and deliberated on a number of issues of concern to the Alliance, its members Orders, and the universal Church. At the conclusion of the meeting the following statement was agreed:

“As we enter the Year of Mercy we re-affirm our commitment to support the sanctity of human life and the dignity of the person at every stage from conception to natural death in an atmosphere of social justice for all people.

We stand fully in support of religious tolerance around the world.

We fully support the affirmation of marriage as understood in the authentic Catholic context.

We affirm our fundamental role in the apostolate of the laity in the redemptive mission of the Church which emanates from our Baptism We recognise the importance of social media in the promotion of our ideals and encourage all our member Orders to make full use of this media to spread the Good News.

We strive to live what we proclaim, while respecting the personhood of those with whom we may disagree.

We support Catholic moral teaching – values that bind and liberate.”

ENDS

At the close of the meeting the Supreme Knight of the USA, Fedron DeKarlos Blackmon was installed as President of the Alliance for the biennium 2015-2017.

Colin Walsh, Past Supreme Knight of the Knights of the Southern Cross, Australia, was installed as Deputy President for the biennium 2015-2017.

The Most Rev. Shelton Joseph Fabre, Bishop of Houma, Thibpdaux, Louisiana, USA was nominated as International Chaplain for the period concomitant with that of the president.

Niall Kennedy, Past International President of the Alliance, and Past Supreme Knight of the Knights of Saint Columbanus, Ireland, was re-elected unanimously as Secretary General of the Alliance until the next meeting of the International Council to be held in the United States of America in 2017.

The statement was signed on behalf of the Orders represented at the conclusion of the meeting by:

Fedron DeKarlos Blackmon

Supreme Knight of the Knights of Peter Claver, USA

Charles McCluskey,

Supreme Knight, Knights of St. Columba, Great Britain

Barry MacMahon.

Supreme Knight, Knights of St. Columbanus, Ireland.

Michael Gregg

Representing the Knights of the Southern Cross, Australia.

Richard Harward.

Supreme Knight, Knights of the Southern Cross, New Zealand.

Claudio Freschi.

Supreme Knight, , South Africa.

Ernest Amoako-Arhen, Supreme Knight, , Ghana.

Geoffrey Renner.

Representing the Knights of Ss. Peter and Paul, The Gambia.

Anthony Onuh.

Supreme Knight, Knights of St. Mulumba, Nigeria