Montana Knights News

The Knights of Columbus this week launched a brand-new Internet-based news and information service for Catholics everywhere: Headline Bistro.

Headline Bistro is a website that provides a quick digest of daily news sources around the world that contain news of interest to active Catholics. Whether it relates to world affairs, national politics or news specifically about the Catholic Church, you’ll find links to the original sources here. You’ll also find video clips, detailed state-by-state information about voting and public policy, and recommended reading from the world of books. The web address is www.headlinebistro.com.

You can also sign up for a daily e-mail that’ll give you the day’s top headlines. If you’re already a subscriber to our other e-mail updates, just enter your e-mail address in the sign-up box and add Headline Bistro to your preferences.

Tell all your Catholic friends about Headline Bistro!

Popularity: 64% [?]

Standard & Poor’s reaffirms Knights of Columbus AAA rating
K of C’s investment portfolio has “very strong credit quality”

NEW HAVEN, CT – For the 16th consecutive year, the Knights of Columbus insurance program has earned Standard & Poor’s highest rating: AAA (Extremely Strong). With more than 140 years experience, S&P is the financial industry’s foremost independent rating bureau, providing investment, credit, and risk analyses of financial institutions around the world.

“K of C is achieving its primary objective of providing members and their families with high-quality, low-cost insurance products,” the 2008 S&P rating report said. The Knights of Columbus insurance program has “a stable outlook,” and in addition, its “capitalization is expected to remain extremely strong, and liquidity is expected to remain extremely strong also.”

The report cited the strengths of the K of C’s operational and financial management, calling its financial strategy “very conservative, as demonstrated by its capital structure, investment portfolio, and approach to business growth.” It further claimed that “K of C’s capital adequacy, as measured by Standard & Poor’s capital model, is among the strongest in the industry.”

Referring to the K of C’s management of its assets, the S&P report stated, “the investment portfolio has very strong credit quality, with the majority of assets being invested in publicly traded investment-grade bonds. Management’s strategy is to grow its business conservatively by offering profitable products and adhering to strict underwriting standards. Standard & Poor’s expects this level of conservatism to continue.”

“The company returned 87% of its earnings to its members in 2007,” S&P added. “Its consistently strong profitability is attributable to high persistency rates, favorable mortality experience, and strong investment returns over the past 10 years.”

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson welcomed the news from S&P, and noted that “despite the difficulties suffered by so many well-known financial institutions due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, we have not only remained solvent but improved our financial stability, while continuing to provide top quality products and service to our members.”

The Knights of Columbus recently received an A.M. Best Company rating of A++ (Superior) for the 33rd consecutive year. The K of C is one of only five insurance providers in North America to receive the highest ratings from both Standard & Poor’s and A.M. Best, as well as certification from the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association (IMSA) for ethical business practices.

Founded 126 years ago, the Knights of Columbus is a fraternal benefit society and is the world’s largest lay Catholic organization with more than 1.75 million members. Last year members of the Knights of Columbus donated more than 68 million hours of volunteer service for charitable causes, and contributed more than $144 million to charity.

August 14, 2008

Click here for a PDF version of the News Release.

Popularity: 48% [?]

Knights of Columbus convention delegates adopt resolutions challenging Catholic office-holders on abortion, affirming marriage as union of one man and one woman

(Quebec City, Quebec) – Delegates to the annual international convention of the Knights of Columbus today adopted a resolution opposing “any governmental action or policy that promotes abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia, assisted suicide and other offenses against life.”

The delegates also challenged “our fellow Catholics who are elected officials to be true to the faith they claim to profess by acting bravely and publicly in defense of life, affirming with Pope Benedict XVI that ‘there can be no room for purely private religion.’”

The resolution stated that the organization reaffirms its “commitment to building a culture of life by promoting policies that favor the family,” and reaffirmed the organization’s “long standing policy of not inviting to any Knights of Columbus event persons, especially public officials or candidates for public office, who do not support the legal protection of unborn children.”

The resolution on life issues follows by several days the opening convention address by Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, in which he called on Catholic voters to “stop accommodating pro-abortion politicians,” and encouraged them to “say ‘no’ to every candidate of every political party who supports abortion.”

Delegates also adopted a resolution calling for “legal and constitutional protection . . . for the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”

The resolution declares that “marriage is a natural institution based on ancient human values that have evolved over time into a unique and deeply rooted social, legal and religious institution,” and that it “reflects the natural biological complementarity between man and woman which predates the state and which is woven into the social and religious fabric of every major culture and society.”
Marriage between man and woman “provides the most favorable environment in which to protect the rights and the best interests of children,” the resolution stated.
Convention delegates adopted resolutions dealing with other public policy issues as well, including building a culture of life, religious liberty, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, decency on the Internet and in the media, Catholic education, and the Pledge of Allegiance. The texts of all the resolutions can be found at:

http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/convention_2008/resolutions/index.html

For complete coverage of convention events, go to the “Convention Central” web page at:

http://www.kofc.org/un/eb/en/convention_2008/index.html

Popularity: 47% [?]