Carl A Anderson

Much of the political activity in recent years appears to align with Anderson's earlier political life. His official biography on the Knights website notes his "distinguished career as a public servant," but provides none of the particulars. He began his public career working for Republican Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina, known throughout his five-term career as one of the most conservative members of Congress. Helms was an ardent supporter of the death penalty and military spending and opposed civil rights legislation and arms control. Anderson later worked in the Reagan White House as a special assistant to the president in the office of public liaison, dealing with domestic policy, Catholics and family issues. Notably, when the issue of AIDS first surfaced, Anderson differed with then-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop on how to speak of the disease. Anderson wanted the government to use language that contained moral judgments about those afflicted. Anderson, who earned a degree in philosophy from Seattle University, a Jesuit institution, and a law degree from the University of Denver, has published several books and has been amply awarded with honorary degrees from Catholic institutions and honors from various other organizations. His status has provided him rare face time with popes and, in addition to his Vatican positions, appointments as the only layperson from North America to serve as an auditor at the world Synod of Bishops in 2001, 2005 and 2008. He has served on a number of committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. His papal honors include Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Sylvester, a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. From 1983 to 1998, Mr. Anderson taught as a visiting professor of family law at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. In 1988, he became the founding vice president and first dean of the Washington, D.C., session of this graduate school of theology now located at The Catholic University of America. Mr. Anderson currently serves on the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He and his wife, Dorian, are the parents of five children.