SENATE RESOLUTION

8613

BySenators Fortunato, Padden, and Holy

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus, founded in 1882 by the venerable Father Michael Joseph McGivney, is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, with over 1.9 million members and fifteen thousand councils worldwide; and

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus was instituted to serve working-class and immigrant Catholics in the United States who faced discrimination, unfairness, and exclusion from public life; and

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus were active during the Cristero War, starting schools and hospitals and invigorating the spiritual life of parishes between 1910 and 1930; and

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus initiated a campaign in 1951 to lobby for the public adoption of the phrase "under God" in the United States Pledge of Allegiance that eventually led the way to the signing of the phrase into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on Flag Day, June 14, 1954; and

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus are dedicated to living out the mission of the Church through charitable, humanitarian, and philanthropic works, contributing over 1.5 billion dollars to charity in the past ten years alone; and

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus work to support refugees fleeing violence and persecution in the Middle East including the rebuilding of Karamles, a Christian village in Iraq that had been devastated by ISIS, and construction of housing for Syriac and Chaldeans in Erbil; and

WHEREAS, The Knights of Columbus are committed to supporting and defending the Catholic faith and promoting Catholic education in ninety-six Catholic schools in Washington state; and

WHEREAS, The more than seventeen thousand members of the Knights of Columbus in Washington state in one hundred sixty-five councils continue to serve their communities, parishes, schools, and our state and nation with acts of charity rooted in the Catholic tradition;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognize and commend the contributions of the Knights of Columbus to a strong civil society, for their work serving the poor and vulnerable in our state and around the world, reflected in their principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism.

I, Brad Hendrickson, Secretary of the Senate,

do hereby certify that this is a true and

correct copy of Senate Resolution 8613,

adopted by the Senate

February 7, 2019

BRAD HENDRICKSON

Secretary of the Senate