On Memorial Day 2024, First Liberty successfully helped the Knights of Columbus in Petersburg, Virginia. Last year, government officials told the Catholic organization that it would not be able to hold its annual Memorial Day Mass.
First Liberty sprang to action and ensured the Knights could continue their Memorial Day Mass tradition to pray and honor America’s fallen heroes.
And what a difference one year can make!
We have now just celebrated Memorial Day 2025. This year, instead of barring the Knights from holding the religious service at Poplar Grove National Cemetery, the National Park Service (NPS) asked the Knights to include the Mass as part of the overall program of activities in the cemetery. NPS also included the Mass on its online calendar of events for Memorial Day.
Founded almost 150 years ago in the United States, the Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal service order with over two million members worldwide. The Knights’ guiding principles are Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism. One long-standing way the Knights have lived out their faith and their patriotism is by hosting Memorial Day masses.
Council 694—the local Knights of Columbus chapter—has held an annual Memorial Day mass in Poplar Grove for generations. In accordance with their religious beliefs they honor and pray for the soldiers buried there, as well as all those who have fallen in service to our Nation. The tradition is so old that Council 694 has no written record of when it first began, but living memory confirms that the masses have been celebrated at Poplar Grove since at least the 1960s, and they likely started long before.
The NPS had always granted the Knights permission to hold the mass within the cemetery, and the mass or a prayer service (when a priest was not available) had been celebrated there annually without incident. Then in 2023, for the first time in memory, the NPS denied the Knights a permit. It cited a new policy which barred a “religious service” in the cemetery as a prohibited “demonstration.”
When the Knights applied for a permit again last year, the NPS again invoked the same policy as justification for denying the Knights a permit to hold the service in the cemetery. Instead, because a mass is a religious event, the NPS insisted that the Knights must hold their service, if at all, outside the cemetery walls in a designated “free speech” zone.
In accordance with the Knights’ sincerely held religious beliefs, however, the service must be held within the sacred ground of the cemetery, as it has been annually for scores of years.
After attempting to resolve the matter without legal action, First Liberty and the law firm McGuireWoods filed a federal lawsuit against the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and various officials, alleging violations of the Knights’ First Amendment rights and their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The NPS, DOI, and the officials were represented by the U.S. Department of Justice.
With Memorial Day fast approaching, First Liberty and McGuireWoods worked against the clock to complete the required briefing for the court.
A federal hearing was set for the Friday before Memorial Day 2024 in Richmond, Virginia. The hearing would determine whether the Knights’ fundamental religious rights would be upheld and their annual Mass would be observed in the national cemetery.
The morning of the hearing, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin publicly voiced his stolid support for the Knights and their right to hold the Mass in the cemetery. Then, the same morning, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and his office filed an amicus brief with the court in support of the Knights and their long-standing tradition, arguing that the NPS actions were unlawful and violated federal law.
With growing public support and political pressure, and with the hearing fast approaching, the federal government relented. The Knights were granted the permission they sought. Three days later, on Memorial Day, the Knights held their beloved Mass in Poplar Grove National Cemetery as they always had before.
This year, instead of the federal government forcing the Knights into litigation, a government chaplain participated in the Mass with the Knights. This year, in other words, things were as they should be.
This was a happy ending, and it did not come easy. It required the Knights to make the hard choice, take the hard road and insist that the First Amendment be upheld. It required First Liberty and McGuireWoods to fight for the Knights and for the First Amendment. It required civic leaders to step up and do the right thing.
And it required you, our supporters, to be there for us and with us all the way. And you were.
On behalf of First Liberty, and the Knights of Columbus, and all those who cherish the freedoms we enjoy under the First Amendment, we thank you.
First Liberty will continue fighting for people and religious groups of all faiths so they don’t face unlawful discrimination. Like everyone else, religious groups should have an equal opportunity to honor and pray for the military heroes who gave their lives in service to our nation.
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