Catholics cannot support politicians who support abortion, the head of the international Knights of Columbus told members and almost 100 Catholic bishops today. The group, known as “the Knights,” is the largest Catholic men’s service organization in the world, with almost 2 million members who in 2014 gave $175 million and 73 million volunteer hours to charity.

“It is time to stop creating excuses for voting for pro-abortion politicians,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson at the Knights’ 134th annual convention, according to a copy of his address given to The Stream. Abortion, he said, is not “just another political issue.” It is “a legal regime that resulted in more than 40 million deaths.”

Anderson’s comments echoed his 2008 open letter to Catholic Sen. Joseph Biden,Sen. Obama’s choice for vice president. Like Hillary Clinton’s choice Tim Kaine, also Catholic, Biden said he was personally opposed to abortion but supported it as public policy. Anderson explained how Biden had misrepresented the Catholic teaching and finished his letter by telling him: “You have a choice: you can listen to your conscience and work to secure the rights of the unborn to share in the fruits of our hard-won liberty, or you can choose to turn your back on them.”

The Knights recently commissioned a poll by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion that found most Americans oppose public funding of abortion and support raising standards on abortion clinics. However, most Americans also support legalized abortion in the first trimester, which is when the pro-abortion research group Guttmacher reports 88 percent of abortions take place.

On Tuesday, he asked: “What political issue could possibly outweigh this human devastation?” Abortion, he said, “is the killing of the innocent on a massive scale. We need to end the political manipulation of Catholic voters by abortion advocates. It is time to end the entanglement of Catholic people with abortion killing. It is time to stop creating excuses for voting for pro-abortion politicians. We will never succeed in building a culture of life if we continue to vote for politicians who support a culture of death.”

A spokesperson for the Knights did not respond to The Stream’s questions about what advice the Anderson would give to Catholic voters this fall, especially related to the support for abortion by both major party nominees and the nominees for the Green Party and Libertarian Party. The Knights also did not respond to whether pro-abortion Catholic politicians should be permitted to receive Communion.

The Knights’ Charity

In addition to tackling abortion and the controversial issue of religious liberty, Anderson’s speech noted charitable activities funded by the Knights, such as tens of thousands of donated wheelchairs and more than 300,000 new coats for children the group has given out in recent years. He also highlighted the plight of Christians in the Middle East, who have been targeted by Islamic extremists. (Anderson speaks about this more in this Crux interview.)

“Christians and other religious minorities are facing extinction,” said Anderson. “Many receive no support from their governments or from the United Nations. They have had to rely on their fellow Christians, and they have been able to rely on the Knights of Columbus.” The Knights have raised more than $11 million for Christian refugees in the last two years, and was a major player in the U.S. State Department’s decision to declare that ISIS is committing genocide against Christians.