RICHMOND, Va. – Attorney General Jason Miyares issued a statement in response to the Knights of Columbus Petersburg Council 694 being granted a permit for their Memorial Day Mass service.
Last year, the Poplar Grove National Cemetery denied the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization, a permit to honor veterans on Memorial Day. The denial was based on a Biden administration National Park Service policy memorandum that interprets long-standing regulations to now prohibit religious services on any Park Service cemetery grounds.
The First Liberty Institute and the law firm McGuireWoods LLP filed a lawsuit against the National Park Service. Attorney General Miyares also filed an amicus brief in support of the Knights of Columbus in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. After the amicus brief was filed, the lawsuit was dismissed following an agreement to allow the service.