Supreme Knight Carl Anderson addressed a burning issue for Catholics nationwide – religious liberty – during the Annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. The supreme knight was the guest speaker for the event.

“Seldom has religious liberty been threatened in so many places in the world, and never before in this country’s history have people of faith faced such widespread threats to their religious freedom as they face today here in theUnited States,” said Supreme Knight Anderson. “For Catholics, and all people of faith, this is a critical moment.”

Also speaking was Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, theVatican’s Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, who delivered the keynote address.

America’s Catholic bishops – and organizations such as the Knights of Columbus – have been strong and vocal in their defense of the First Amendment’s guarantee of the free exercise of religion. This has come in the face of a series of government actions designed to curb religious liberty – such as in the Hosanna Tabor case in which the limits to religious liberty sought by the federal government were rejected 9-0 by the Supreme Court, and more recently with the HHS mandate, which forces employers to cover sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs and contraception at no cost to employees.

More than 800 people attended the breakfast at theMarriottWardmanParkinWashington,D.C.on Thursday, April 19.

EWTN will broadcast the event on Friday, April 20, at 9 a.m. ET and on Saturday, April 21, 1 p.m. ET.

Supreme Knight Anderson previously, he served as acting director of the White House Office of Public Liaison, and for a decade on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He is also the author of the New York Times bestseller A Civilization of Love: what every Catholic can do to transform the world. He holds several appointments toVatican committees and to committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.