NEWS FOR KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS LEADERSwww.kofc.org

KnightLineNOVEMBER 2009 VOL. 26 • NO. 11

Officials of a supplementalTribunal, constituted by theArchdiocese of Hartford, have

formally sent a new report to theVatican’s Congregation for the Causesof Saints. The tribunal — a paneltasked with gathering additional testimony — interviewed additionalwitnesses, including several medicaldoctors, about the circumstances of areported miracle attributed toVenerable Michael McGivney’s inter-cession. The report was signed andpresented to Archbishop HenryMansell of Hartford on Sept. 22, and was affixed with the seal of thearchbishop. The postulator of thecause, Dr. Andrea Ambrosi (shown,

right), traveled from Rome toHartford for the occasion. The eventwas held in the chapel at theChancery of the Archdiocese ofHartford and was attended bySupreme Knight Carl A. Anderson,other Supreme Officers, relatives of Father McGivney and archdiocesan officials.

Federal Court Victory inPledge of Allegiance CaseThe Knights of Columbusscored an important victo-ry in federal court, in NewHampshire on Sept. 30,when U.S. District JudgeSteven McAuliffe upheldthe constitutionality of the words “underGod” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Read more here.

Supreme Knight Keynotes atProject Rachel AnniversarySupreme Knight Carl A. Andersonaddressed the celebratory gathering forthe 25th anniversary of Project Rachel inMilwaukee. Founded in 1984, ProjectRachel and the National Office of Post-Abortion Reconciliation and Healing arethe Catholic Church’s outreach to womenand men affected by abortion. For details,visit www.hopeafterabortion.com.

Supreme Assembly MeetsSupreme Master Lawrence G. Costanzo ledcurrent and former vice supreme mastersof the Fourth Degree as they conductedthe business of the Order’s patriotic armduring the 99th Supreme Assembly meet-ing in New Haven, Conn., on Sept. 25.Read more here.

More Information on Reported McGivney Miracle

The Supreme Council rushedan emergency donation of$50,000 to Filipino

victims of Tropical Storm Ketsana(known locally as Typhoon Ondoy),and another $40,000 in donationsfrom state and local councils andindividual Knights was sent by Oct.10. As of Oct. 21, one jurisdiction,Illinois, donated $5,000; another,Washington, donated $3,000; threejurisdictions (Pennsylvania, Idaho and

Arkansas) had donated $2,000 each toPhilippines flood relief; five jurisdic-tions (Iowa, Alabama, Massachusetts,Texas and British Columbia) haddonated $1,000 each; and Delaware,Missouri, Tennessee and WestVirginia had donated smalleramounts. All online donations madeto United in Charity through Oct. 31,2009, are being earmarked for

See ‘PHILIPPINES’ Page 2

Relief Efforts Under Way forFlood Victims in Philippines

Filipino Knights, led by Luzon Deputy Alonso L. Tan, Task ForceOndoy Chairman Bonifacio B. Martinez and other

state service directors, distributed 425 bags of goods to flood victims, including this little girl and

her family, in Marikina and

Botolan.

Featured Online ...Download the full-color version of Knightline — with hyperlinks! — online at www.kofc.org/newsletters

Philippine disaster relief. The funds were sent to theCatholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP),which is coordinating Catholic relief efforts. ArchbishopAngel Lagdameo, the President of the CBCP, expressed“profound gratitude” to the Knights of Columbus SupremeCouncil and the U.S. Bishops’ Catholic Relief Services inan interview with the Catholic News Service (CNS).

“They were among the first to respond,” he said.Knights in the Philippines have also moved quickly to

help their countrymen impacted by the flooding, distribut-ing food and bottled water. At least 450 people died in thecapitol of Manila, where more than 80 percent of the citywas under water at the height of the storm, which alsoaffected 27 provinces in seven regions of the country.Hundreds of thousands have been displaced and are with-out electricity or clean drinking water. There are morethan 250,000 members of the Knights of Columbus in thePhilippines, and fully half — 126,000 — live in Luzon,which was hardest hit.

PHILIPPINES, continued from Page 1

Knights of Columbus members distribute relief supplies to floodvictims. In a related story, college Knights kicked off this year’sCollege Council Conference by raising more than $300 to assistrelief efforts for the flood victims in the Philippines.See Page 3 for more about the conference.

Supreme Knight AndersonAppointed to Vatican BankThe Holy See, on Sept. 24, namedSupreme Knight Carl A. Anderson as oneof the new members of the Institute forWorks of Religion (IOR) — the VaticanBank — supervisory board. “I am honored to have been selected ...and I hope that my experience in workingwith the Vatican on a variety of issuesover the past decade, and my work in thebusiness and financial sector — assupreme knight and chief executive officerof the Knights of Columbus — will enableme to contribute to the success of theIOR’s many important initiatives.”

Knights Co-SponsorReligious Liberty Conference The Knights of Columbus and theArchdiocese of Mexico City co-sponsoreda conference on religious liberty in the Americas, Sept. 25-26, in the Mexican capital. The event was organized by Knights of Columbus and the The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson delivered the opening addresson the morning of Sept. 25. “Today, in an age of globalization, we seethe question of religious freedom take onnew importance. Especially in secular cul-tures, and in countries that are by their

nature pluralistic, the danger is the mar-ginalization of Christianity and religiousliberty,” the supreme knight said at theopening of the two-day conference. Otherspeakers included Harvard Law Professorand former U.S. Ambassador to theVatican Mary Ann Glendon, former U.S.Ambassador to the U.N. Human RightsCommission J. Kenneth Blackwell, and for-mer U.S. Ambassador-at-large forInternational Religious Freedom RobertSeiple. Professors from universities inMexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Braziland Canada also made presentations. A special Web site (www.voices-symposium.org/) features completedetails of the conference program.

Columbus Day CelebrationFourth Degree Knights from Virginia,Maryland, the District of Columbia andsurrounding areas honored ChristopherColumbus at a wreath-laying ceremonyheld at the memorial fountain that bearshis likeness, near Union Station inWashington, D.C. The Knights of Columbuswas instrumental in the construction ofthe fountain that was dedicated in 1908.

Stars Come to New HavenWinners of the grand knight anddistrict deputy 2008-09 incentivetrip to New Haven, Conn. (shownhere with Deputy Supreme KnightDennis A. Savoie), got the “star”treatment as they visited theSupreme Council office, met theSupreme Officers, toured theKnights of Columbus Museum,celebrated Mass at St. Mary’sChurch, dined at some of NewHaven’s finest restaurants, andexplored the historic city. The incentive drawing was open to district deputies whoachieved Star District status (attaining 100 percent or more of their membership and insur-ance quotas) and grand knights who attained Star Council status during the 2008-09 fra-ternal year. For more information, visit “For Officers” at www.kofc.org or click here.

You can still contribute after the Oct. 31 deadline BY CHECK ONLY. Make checks payable to Knights of Columbus Charities, Inc., specify"Philippines" on the memo line of your check, and mail to: Knights of Columbus Charities, 1 Columbus Plaza, PO Box 1966, New Haven,CT 06509-1966. For updates on this effort, visit www.kofc.org/news.

Joy is infectious, and members of college councils whonetworked together, made new friends, shared ideasand became energized about the Order and their role in it during the 2009 College Council Conference, need to

bring that joy back and share it among their fellow councilmembers, said Michael V. Brewer, College CouncilCoordinator.

“Joy has an attractive quality to it ... a strong interior life and asense of faith will support youthroughout your life,” Brewer toldthe young Knights who worked,socialized and celebrated their faithtogether during the (Oct. 2-4) conference in New Haven, Conn.These 143 Knights representedapproximately 65 colleges and uni-versities in the United States,Canada, Mexico and the DominicanRepublic.

The young men attended pre-sentations and workshops on topicsranging from programming andmembership to the leadershipresponsibilities of Knights on cam-pus. During these sessions, Knights networked to shareinnovative ideas from their councils and generate newapproaches to challenges. Conference delegates also touredthe Supreme Council office and the Knights of ColumbusMuseum, and attended Mass at St. Mary’s Church.

At the awards banquet, Supreme Knight Carl A.

Anderson delivered the keynote address. “Too often wethink — especially in college — that our big decisions aregoing to come later. But the fact of the matter is that someof your most important decisions are being made now:decisions that will condition what your decisions later inlife after you graduate will be; decisions about whether the

basic insights involving theTheology of the Body are true ornot; whether the ethical standardthat the Church holds up for us istrue or not.”

Awards were presented formembership and insurance growth,and for achievements in the “Surge… with Service” categories. Thewinner of this year’s OutstandingCollege Council award was JohnPaul II Council 14188 at HarvardUniversity in Cambridge, Mass.

At Sunday morning’s closingsession, Msgr. Eduardo Chávez, pos-tulator for the canonization cause ofSt. Juan Diego, gave a talk on OurLady of Guadalupe. “You (collegeKnights) are the heart, blood and

truth of our Church ... the sign that Our Lady ofGuadalupe gave to Juan Diego was the flower, whichmeans truth,” Msgr. Chávez told the attendees. “You arethe flower, you are the truth of God.”

For more coverage and to view a slideshow of the conference,visit www.kofc.org/college.

HARVARD WINS OUTSTANDING COLLEGE COUNCIL

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and ConferenceCommittee Chairman Steven Bierschbach, presentthe Outstanding College Council Award to GrandKnight Juan Carmona of John Paul II Council 14188.

College Knights Energized by Annual Conference

Members of the Board ofDirectors elected SupremeOfficers and installed new

board members at their quarterlymeeting in San Antonio, Texas, onOct. 9. Re-elected were SupremeKnight Carl A. Anderson, DeputySupreme Knight Dennis A. Savoie,Supreme Secretary Donald R. Kehoe,Supreme Advocate John A. Marrella,Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E.Lori and Supreme Warden Meclea“Mickey” L. Casavant. SupremeTreasurer John W. O’Reilly Jr., whowill reach the mandatory retirement

age of 70 next year, chose not to seekre-election; Emilio B. Moure, PastState Deputy of California, was elect-ed the new Supreme Treasurer.

Also named to new terms wereSupreme Master Lawrence G.Costanzo, Assistant SupremeSecretary Ronald J. Tracz, AssistantSupreme Advocate Yves Duceppe,Administrative Assistant to theSupreme Knight (GeneralAdministration) Stephen M. Feiler,Administrative Assistant to theSupreme Knight (Insurance) Edward J.Mullen, and Medical Director Dr.

Michael Conforti (to perform theduties of the Supreme Physician).Newly elected directors Javier S.Martinez of Texas, Reginald F. Beckettof New Jersey and Daniel J. Baker ofGeorgia were formally installed at amorning Mass, Oct. 10.

Pictured above (from left): Supreme DirectorDaniel J. Baker and Donna; SupremeTreasurer Emilio B. Moure and Rebecca;Supreme Chaplain Bishop William E. Lori;Dorian and Supreme Knight Carl A.Anderson; Alice and Supreme DirectorReginald F. Beckett; and Marietta andSupreme Director Javier S. Martinez.

Election of Officers, Installation of New Directors in San Antonio

BY THOMAS P. SMITH JR.EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT(AGENCIES AND MARKETING)

Iknow from the council bulletins Iread every month that ournewsletter editors — and, increas-

ingly, council Web site developers —do a great job in communicatingcouncil news and Orderwide events.For many years now, we have encour-aged our agents to write a monthlycolumn for the newsletters or Websites of the councils they serve.

Knights of Columbus insuranceagents, aside from being professional-ly trained experts in the field, are

knowledgeable ambassadors of theOrder. Giving your agent a presencein the council bulletincan help your councilreach its insurance quotaand earn the Founders’Award, one of the threeawards needed to achieveStar Council status.

Our agents are sales-men, however, not writ-ers. Many of them havedifficulty meeting severalbulletin deadlines in addi-tion to their professionaland fraternal responsibili-ties. My office has a solu-tion that will help agentsand the bulletin editors. We have pre-pared a number of articles for councilbulletins, which are available fromthe Supreme Council office. Included

is an article for each month of theyear, along with a couple of alterna-

tive articles should theneed ever arise. These arti-cles are short, to the pointand easily edited. Most areabout the same length asthis column (between 200-300 words). All the bul-letin editor needs to do isadd the agent’s name andtelephone number (or thegeneral agent’s informa-tion if the council ispresently not served by afield agent) to the end ofthe story.

Interested? You can request thesearticles from us. Send your request toRudy Sturk at rudolph.sturk@kofc.org.

A Valuable Resource for Bulletin Editors

KnightLine1 Columbus Plaza New Haven CT 06510-3326

PUBLISHED 12 TIMES A YEAR BY THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS SUPREME COUNCIL1 Columbus Plaza, New Haven, CT 06510-3326 l 203-752-4264 l knightline@kofc.org

We have prepared a number of articles for council bulletins,which are

available fromthe Supreme

Council office.