BUILDING A

ON JANUARY 22, 2015, POPE FRANCIS SENT A TWEET TO THE

VAST CROWD GATHERED FOR THE IN

WASHINGTON, D.C. THE POPE’S TWEET SAID, “LIFE IS A GIFT.” MORE

AND MORE, PEOPLE SEEM TO BE GETTING THAT MESSAGE.

THOUGH THE NEWS MEDIA DOES NOT TELL YOU, THE PRO-

DEATH MOVEMENT IS GROWING WEAKER BY THE DAY, OFTEN

BECAUSE OF ITS OWN INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS.

FOLLOWING DISCOVERY OF CLINICS WITH

UNSANITARY AND HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS, UNSAFE MEDICAL

PRACTICES, UNLICENSED PERSONNEL, AND BOTCHED

RESULTING IN INJURIES AND DEATH, MORE AND MORE ABORTION

CLINICS ARE BEING SHUT DOWN AND THE NUMBER OF ABORTIONS

NATIONALLY CONTINUES TO DECLINE.

PARTIAL BIRTH ABORTIONS, MAINLY DONE IN THE THIRD

TRIMESTER, ARE NOW ILLEGAL, AND STATES ARE NOW MOVING TO

BAN BRUTAL SECOND TRIMESTER DISMEMBERMENT ABORTIONS.

MORE AND MORE LEGISLATURES ARE EVEN BANNING ANY

ABORTIONS AFTER 20 WEEKS WHEN THE UNBORN CHILD CAN FEEL

PAIN. MOREOVER, IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, STATE LEGISLATURES Building a Culture of Life 4/15

HAVE PASSED MORE PRO-LIFE BILLS THAN IN THE PREVIOUS 10

YEARS COMBINED! WE EXPECT THESE LEGISLATIVE SUCCESSES TO

CONTINUE, AS POLLS SHOW THAT THE YOUNGER GENERATION IS

THE MOST PRO-LIFE GENERATION IN OUR NATION’S HISTORY!

AS THE NUMBERS OF ABORTION CLINICS AND ABORTIONS

DECLINE, AN INCREASING NUMBER OF PRO-LIFE PREGNANCY CARE

CENTERS OFFER PREGNANT WOMEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW

THEIR UNBORN CHILD ON ULTRASOUND MACHINES FUNDED BY THE

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS.

SINCE 2009, THE ORDER’S ULTRASOUND INITIATIVE HAS

HELPED STATE AND LOCAL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COUNCILS TO

PARTNER WITH THE SUPREME COUNCIL TO CONTRIBUTE OVER $36

MILLION TO PREGNANCY CARE CENTERS FOR THE PURCHASE OF

MORE THAN 750 ULTRASOUND MACHINES IN CANADA, JAMAICA,

GUATEMALA, AND ALL 50 U.S. STATES. EACH MACHINE HAS THE

POTENTIAL TO SAVE HUNDREDS, EVEN THOUSANDS, OF LIVES!

SUPREME KNIGHT CARL ANDERSON HAS SAID OF THE

ULTRASOUND INITIATIVE: “IT IS, WITHOUT DOUBT, THE MOST

EFFECTIVE PRO-LIFE PROGRAM WE HAVE EVER UNDERTAKEN. IT

SAVES LIVES EACH AND EVERY DAY. AND WITH EACH WOMAN WHO

Building a Culture of Life 4/15 SEES AN IMAGE OF HER CHILD, WE CONTINUIE TO TURN THE TIDE

OF PUBLIC OPINION, ONE PERSON AT A TIME.”

IN ADDITON TO PROVIDING ULTRASOUND MACHINES, KNIGHTS

HAVE SUPPORTED PREGNANCY CARE CENTERS WITH DIAPER

DRIVES AND BABY SHOWERS, HAVE RAISED FUNDS THROUGH

“BABY BOTTLE BOMMERANGS,” DONATED MATERNITY AND BABY

CLOTHES, CAR SEATS AND BABY FURNITURE.

KNIGHTS HAVE SUPPORTED THE MARCH FOR LIFE IN

WASHINGTON, D.C., THE WALK FOR LIFE – WEST COAST IN SAN

FRANCISCO, THE NATIONAL MARCH FOR LIFE IN OTTAWA, AND

OTHER MARCHES AND WALKS FOR LIFE IN MAJOR CITIES

THROUGHOUT THE PHILIPPINES, AND IN OTHER TOWNS AND CITIES

THROUGHOUT THE ORDER.

KNIGHTS HAVE SPONSORED PRO-LIFE CONFERENCES AND

BILLBOARDS, PUT UP CROSSES TO FORM “CEMETERIES OF THE

INNOCENTS,” AND SPIRITUALLY ADOPTED UNBORN CHILDREN.

EACH YEAR ON MARCH 25, THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION,

KNIGHTS CELEBRATE THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS INTERNATIONAL

DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE UNBORN CHILD WITH ROSARIES AND

SPECIAL MASSES FOR UNBORN CHILDREN AND THEIR MOTHERS.

Building a Culture of Life 4/15 TO EACH WOMAN FACING A DIFFICULT PREGNANCY, WE SAY:

“PLEASE KNOW THERE IS A BETTER CHOICE - CHOOSE LIFE!” THEN

WE GIVE HER THE HELP SHE NEEDS TO GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE TO

HER CHILD!

SHE NEEDS TO BE GIVEN REAL CHOICES. SHE NEEDS TO

KNOW THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO ABORTION, SUCH AS

ADOPTION. THERE ARE LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF

LOVING COUPLES EAGER TO ADOPT A CHILD INTO THEIR HOME.

THERE ARE ALSO THOUSANDS OF CHURCHES AND

VOLUNTEER GROUPS READY TO OFFER HER COMPASSIONATE

CARE DURING PREGNANCY AND TO HELP HER GET BACK ON HER

FEET AFTER HER CHILD IS BORN.

WE NEED TO TELL HER, “MAKE THE CHOICE YOU WILL NEVER

REGRET, THE ONE THAT WILL GIVE YOU PEACE OF MIND FOR THE

REST OF YOUR DAYS. CHOOSE LIFE. THE NATURAL CHOICE IS LIFE.”

STILL, SOME CLAIM THE CULTURE OF LIFE MOVEMENT IS A

SINGLE-ISSUE CONSTITUENCY. THEY SAY WE CARE LITTLE ABOUT

HUMAN LIFE AFTER BIRTH.

THE FACTS PROVE OTHERWISE. SURVEY FIGURES SHOW THAT

EACH YEAR THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS DONATES MILLIONS OF

Building a Culture of Life 4/15 DOLLARS AND MANY VOLUNTEER HOURS TO HELP PEOPLE WHO

ARE DISABLED, HOMELESS, HUNGRY, SICK, ELDERLY, AND POOR. IN

JUST ONE RECENT YEAR, ORDERWIDE CHARITABLE GIVING

FIGURES TOTALED 70 MILLION HOURS OF VOLUNTEER SERVICE

AND OVER $170 MILLION.

KNIGHTS SPONSOR PROGRAMS SUCH AS “COATS FOR KIDS”

AND “FOOD FOR FAMILIES,” CONDUCT BLOOD DRIVES, SUPPORT

SPECIAL OLYMPICS, BUILD HOMES THROUGH HABITAT FOR

HUMANITY, DISTRIBUTE WHEELCHAIRS THROUGH THE GLOBAL

WHEELCHAIR MISSION, AND HAS PARTNERED WITH PROJECT

MEDSHARE TO PROVIDE ARTIFICIAL LIMBS TO CHILDREN WHO

WERE VICTIMS OF THE EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI.

WE CARE. WE CARE VERY MUCH ABOUT THE PLIGHT OF ALL OF

OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS.

AND, YES, WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO

PROTECT HUMAN LIFE AS A SACRED GIFT OF GOD.

OUR SUPREME CHAPLAIN, ARCHBISHOP WILLIAM LORI OF

BALTIMORE, HAS ELOQUENTLY EXPRESSED EXACTLY WHAT IS AT

STAKE IN OUR BATTLE AGAINST THE CULTURE OF DEATH. HE SAID:

Building a Culture of Life 4/15 “THE TAKING OF DEFENSELESS, INNOCENT HUMAN LIFE IN THE

WOMB, IN MANY CASES RIGHT UP THE VERY MOMENT OF BIRTH, IS

NOT THE MERE VIOLATION OF A SECTARIAN TENET, BUT RATHER A

FUNDAMENTAL DENIAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS. TO BE SURE, NOT EVERY

MORAL PROHIBITION IS TO BE ENSHRINED IN CIVIL LAW. YET, AS

SAINT JOHN PAUL II REMINDS US, ‘THE REAL PURPOSE OF CIVIL LAW

IS TO GUARANTEE AN ORDERED SOCIAL COEXISTENCE IN TRUE

JUSTICE.’ AND FOR THAT REASON, ‘CIVIL LAW MUST ENSURE THAT

ALL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY ENJOY RESPECT FOR CERTAIN

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS WHICH INNATELY BELONG TO THE

PERSON…’ (, 71). THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL

RIGHT IS THE RIGHT TO LIFE FROM CONCEPTION TO NATURAL

DEATH.”

AS THE BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS MOVES CLOSER TO

THE BEGINNING OF LIFE AT CONCEPTION, A NEW BATTLE FRONT IS

OPENING AT THE END OF LIFE.

PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE BILLS HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED

IN MORE THAN A DOZEN STATE LEGISLATURES. HOWEVER, PRO-

LIFE FORCES, WITH STRONG SUPPORT FROM THE MEDICAL,

HOSPICE, AND DISABILITY RIGHTS COMMUNITIES, HAVE BEEN

Building a Culture of Life 4/15 MEETING THOSE BILLS WITH STRONG AND DETERMINED

OPPOSITION.

THUS, WE ARE DEFENDING LIFE AT ITS BEGINNING, MIDDLE,

AND END.

IN AGREEMENT WITH WHAT POPE FRANCIS SAID IN HIS TWEET,

WE BELIEVE THAT LIFE IS A SACRED GIFT OF GOD.

YET, IT IS IRONIC THAT, WHILE THE DEATH PENALTY HAS BEEN

ALMOST ELIMINATED FOR THE GUILTY, SOME IN SOCIETY

INCREASINGLY CONDONE THE KILLING OF THE INNOCENT.

WE MUST CORRECT THOSE WHO THINK ABORTION, PHYSICIAN

ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA ARE SOME FORMS OF

MEDICAL CARE, WHEN, IN REALITY, THEY ARE SIMPLY DIFFERENT,

AND BARBARIC, WAYS TO KILL.

WHO SPEAKS FOR THE VICTIMS OF WHAT SAINT POPE JOHN

PAUL II CALLED THE “CULTURE OF DEATH”?

WE DO!

AND, INCREASINGLY, PUBLIC OPINION IS BECOMING MORE

PRO-LIFE.

Building a Culture of Life 4/15 WE BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE WILL EMBRACE REASON AND

COMPASSION AND HEED POPE FRANCIS’ MESSAGE THAT LIFE IS A

GIFT.

BECAUSE WE ARE PEOPLE OF LIFE AND FOR LIFE, WE BELIEVE

THAT, BY HELPING PEOPLE TO SEE LIFE AS A GIFT, OUR CULTURE

IS ALREADY TURNING AWAY FROM THE EVILS OF ABORTION, AND

STRONGLY RESISTING ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA.

THUS, UPON THAT FOUNDATION, WE HAVE ALREADY BEGUN

TO BUILD A CULTURE OF LIFE. WE HAVE ALREADY BEGUN BUILDING

A CIVILIZATION OF LOVE. IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S PLAN, LET

US CONTINUE TO WORK AND TO PRAY THAT THE CULTURE OF LIFE

AND THE CIVILIZATION OF LOVE WILL GROW BIGGER AND

STRONGER, AND MORE LOVING, EVERY DAY!

THANK YOU.

Building a Culture of Life 4/15