Article in America Magazine and recent speech in Los Angeles focus on Americas as the "Catholic Hemisphere"

Contact: Andrew Walther, Director of Media Relations, Knights of Columbus, 818-522-2005

NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- Catholics throughout the Americas must embrace each other as their brothers and sisters in faith regardless of their ethnic background, the leader of the Knights of Columbus – the world's largest lay Catholic organization – wrote in a June 4 article in America magazine. Anderson addressed the same subject in a recent speech at the May 19 Rosary Bowl in Los Angeles.

With Europe in religious decline, Anderson wrote that the Americas are the Christian hemisphere because of their high population of Catholics and rich Catholic heritage: "[I]n the Americas, despite significant challenges, Christianity is still strong," he wrote.

Anderson took no position on the current immigration legislation before congress, but with the number of Hispanic Catholics increasing dramatically in the United Sates, Anderson noted: "As [Hispanic Catholics] breathe new life into our parish communities, it is our job to help them to become assimilated into our parishes and communities, as our parents and grandparents did, and to help them to live out their faith with support from all Catholics."

Anderson concluded his article by noting: "If we Catholics were to view Hispanic immigrants as brothers and sisters in faith, and if we were to share that vision with the rest of our country, we could significantly shape the future of the church, the country, the continent and the hemisphere."

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest lay Catholic organization with more than 1.7 million members worldwide. The Knights were founded in New Haven, Conn. 125 years ago, and have a long history in Latin America dating back to 1905, when the Order first established a council was in Mexico. Councils were subsequently established in Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.