Miami, Fla., Aug 24, 2012 / 11:04 am (CNA).- Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, will address a national Catholic Latino group at a Miami church this evening on how Hispanic Catholics can transform American politics for the better.
Anderson will say that Catholics “should work to ensure that future generations of immigrants find a country that supports their values and not one that asks them to surrender their religious values at the border as the price of their admission.”
Is not multiculturalism but its opposite to force immigrants to “surrender values at the border,” he will state.
His speech to the annual conference of the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders will take place the evening of Friday Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Family Center of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. The event will gather together more than 100 Hispanic business and civic leaders.
Anderson will speak about the importance of immigration reform and provide advice for judging how to vote in the upcoming election. Politicians’ support for immigration reform, in his view, is not enough to justify a vote for them if they also advocate policies at odds with core Catholic beliefs.
He will advise Hispanic Catholics to consider many issues in voting and to draw a line against voting for a politician who supports policies opposed to core Catholic beliefs. These policies include support for abortion or limits on religious freedom.
The Knights of Columbus is a 1.8 million member Catholic fraternal charity. Since its founding 130 years ago in New Haven, Conn., it has established councils across the world, including in Mexico and Cuba.
The organization co-sponsored with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles the Aug. 5 Guadalupe Celebration in Los Angeles, which gathered together tens of thousands of Catholics to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Anderson has coauthored a bestselling book on the patron saint of the Americas, “Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of Love.”