Knights errant

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Aug 06, 2004

From Supreme Knight Carl Anderson's speech at the Dallas convention of the Knights of Columbus:

No other organization in the Church today can make the impact that we can at every level of the Church.

Probably true. If the Knights want action, they can get it started by themselves.

Catholics in public office who defend legal abortion will increasingly find themselves at the margins of the Catholic community.  Today, they are no longer in the center.  The discussion now is whether they have become so marginalized as to be no longer in communion with their fellow Catholics — and whether they should admit this themselves or be told so by their bishop.

It is not up to us as members of the laity to judge whether fellow Catholics should be denied Communion, or whether they are guilty of scandal.  Those decisions are properly left to the pastoral judgment of ecclesial authorities.

Fair enough; certainly that's a logical stance. But while leaving the bishops to decide whether pro-abortion pols should receive Communion, the Knights could decide for themselves that a public official who supports the "culture of death" cannot remain a member in good standing of the K of C itself. We're still waiting...