- Since 1960, the fraternity has held an annual service at the national cemetery
- But a policy change means the mass is now classified as a ‘demonstration’
A Catholic fraternity is taking the White House to court after being banned from holding an annual mass at a national cemetery for more than 60 years.
The Knights of Columbus have held a Memorial Day Mass at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia every year since 1960.
But it claims religious discrimination after the National Park Service (NPS) decided the religious service amounted to a “demonstration” and decided to ban it on Petersburg grounds.
“The policy and decision that prevents the Knights of Columbus from continuing their centuries-old religious tradition is a blatant violation of the First Amendment and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” their attorney John Moran said in a news release.
“We urge the court to grant our restraining order and allow the Knights to hold their Memorial Day service.”
The Knights of Columbus, pictured here in DC, are not allowed to hold their annual Memorial Day mass at Poplar Grove National Cemetery in Virginia
The Catholic Brotherhood has organized the service every year since 1960, but was told it violated National Park Service rules on “demonstrations.”
The group was founded in 1882 as a welfare organization in New Haven, Connecticut and has more than two million members worldwide.
The NPS has had a rule since the 1980s that classifies religious services and vigils as “demonstrations.”
There was a specific exception for “official commemorative events held for Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and other dates designated by the Superintendent as having special historical and memorial significance to a particular national cemetery.”
But the NPS pressured the Knights after a policy change in 2022 that required “demonstrations” likely to attract “spectators” to take place elsewhere.
“National cemeteries are established as national shrines to honor those who have died in service to our country,” Alexa Viets, superintendent of the National Battlefield in Petersburg, told the Washington Times.
‘As a result, any special activities within the cemetery are reserved for a limited number of official commemorative activities that are related to military service or have a historical and commemorative significance for the national cemetery in question.’
Former President John F Kennedy was a member of the Knights, but his fellow Catholic successor in the White House is now facing a religious discrimination lawsuit.
President John F Kennedy was a member of the fraternity, but his fellow Catholic successor in the White House now faces a religious discrimination lawsuit
“We assume there is some kind of oversight or miscommunication, and that the park service is simply going to approve the permit,” said Roger Byron of law firm First Liberty Institute.
“If they don’t, we know something else has happened – something that bears the unmistakable hallmarks of religious discrimination.
“The National Park Service is way out of line.”