One of the oldest and most respected of Catholic lay organizations, the Knights of Columbus, recently finished their annual convention in Washington.

The delegates from over 12,000 local chapters passed a resolution denouncing the filibuster of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, the president's nominee to the federal appellate bench. The Knights of Columbus thus join Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, writer and theologian Michael Novak and over 200 newspaper editorials in denouncing what has become an anti-Catholic boycott run by Senate Democrats.

But this boycott is not aimed at all Catholics, just those who profess personal allegiance to the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, which condemns all abortions.

The Senate Democrats refuse to trust Pryor, even though he has pledged to set aside his personal beliefs in ruling on cases where Supreme Court precedents control and mandate a decision opposite his faith.

Many judges have to do exactly what Pryor has pledged to do. The Senate Democrats have created an anti-Catholic test--and the Knights of Columbus were right to denounce its use.

I'm Hugh Hewitt.