Carl Anderson
The Knights of Columbus and Carl A. Anderson, their director, will receive the 2015 University of Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal on Sunday (April 26).
The occasion will be celebrated at a 5 p.m. Mass in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend will be the presiding celebrant.
The Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal honors people whose efforts have served to proclaim the Gospel of Life by steadfastly affirming and defending the sanctity of human life from its earliest stages. Previous recipients of the Medal include Richard Doerflinger, associate director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities; Helen M. Alvaré, associate professor of law at George Mason University; Mother Agnes Mary Donovan and the Sisters of Life; and U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and his wife, Marie Smith.
“We are thrilled to host on behalf of the University the fifth annual celebration of the Notre Dame Evangelium Vitae Medal award,” said Carter Snead, William P. and Hazel B. White Director of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture. “The Evangelium Vitae Medal is the most important lifetime achievement award for heroes of the pro-life movement, and is one of the most tangible and most high profile manifestations of Notre Dame’s institutional witness to the inalienable dignity of unborn human life. This year’s recipients, the Knights of Columbus and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, perfectly embody the spirit of the award. The Knights and their leader have worked tirelessly on behalf of pregnant women and their unborn babies on a worldwide scale, offering their time, material support, and prayers. We are delighted to welcome hundreds Knights, leaders of the prolife movement from the U.S. and abroad, elected officials, Bishop Rhoades, and members of the extended Notre Dame family to join us in this joyful celebration.”
The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic organization with 1.8 million members. Anderson has served as Supreme Knight for 14 years. Over the past decade, under his administration, the organization has donated more than 664 million hours of service and $1.4 billion to charity, including the donation of more than 268 ultrasound machines valued at more than $14 million to pregnancy resource centers in 44 states and Canada.
Contact: Stephen Freddoso, Center for Ethics and Culture, freddoso.6@nd.edu