Some brief new from Carl Anderson Supreme Knight.
A Papal Message to the convention conveyed the prayers and good wishes of Pope Francis who praised the Order’s efforts to strengthen family life and provide relief to persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Just days before the convention, the Board of Directors authorized a $2 million effort to save Karamdes, a predominantly Christian town in the Nineveh Plain region of Iraq, which was liberated from ISIS late last year. During my annual report, I announced the “Knights of Columbus Campaign to Save 1 Million Children.” Through our Ultrasound Initiative, we have already provided 829 ultrasound machines and this new campaign aims to reach the goal of 1,000 machines as quickly as possible, so that by 2019 — the 10th anniversary of the initiative — we will have saved an estimated total of 1 million lives.
The Order reached new heights in its charitable works, donating more than $177 million and 75 million hours to charitable causes. Our industry-leading program of insurance “by brother Knights, for brother Knights” continues to provide the finest protection to our families, issuing a new record of more than $8.54 billion of new life insurance last year. We also celebrated the achievements of our fraternal leaders and insurance field force, and presented the Order’s highest honor, the Gaudium et Spes Award, to a courageous Maryknoll priest, Father Gerard Hammond, who has travelled to North Korea more than 50 times to provide humanitarian aid.