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DL82
Guest
What does Catholic Knighthood mean in the modern Church?
I met some Knights of Malta recently by chance (they were having their annual celebration at Westminster Cathedral). I was really surprised to hear that you still need to have patents of nobility to join the KM in Britain and most of Europe.
On the other hand, there are other groups, the Knights of St Columba for example, that just seem to be Catholic mens’ benevolent associations.
It got me thinking about value and nobility - real nobility of virtue, not just of blood, the kind of thing St Josemaria talks about - and the idea of a hierarchy of value among the laity, an unpopular idea in today’s society. It also got me thinking, if I’ve never done anything in the world to merit Knighthood, and certainly nothing to merit nobility (Britain still gives noble titles - though they are no longer inheritable - to people who have made a significant contribution to public life, or, more cynically, a signi£icant contribution to £abour party funds), what makes me think I even remotely qualify for admission to the even higher estate of the priesthood? Would I not be better working hard in this life, acknowledging the value of my given estate in life, and schooling my children in the values of true nobility of soul in the hope that they might be worthy of the priesthood? One thing I appreciate about the Catholic Church in the South of England is that its’ priests remain an elite (many of them schooled at Oxford or Cambridge, appreciating the finer things of culture as well as of faith). Is this just the snob in me talking? Can anyone honestly live this way in the modern world? Am I confusing nobility of virtue with the false honours of the world?
What is the role of Knighthood in the modern Church? All opinions welcome.
I met some Knights of Malta recently by chance (they were having their annual celebration at Westminster Cathedral). I was really surprised to hear that you still need to have patents of nobility to join the KM in Britain and most of Europe.
On the other hand, there are other groups, the Knights of St Columba for example, that just seem to be Catholic mens’ benevolent associations.
It got me thinking about value and nobility - real nobility of virtue, not just of blood, the kind of thing St Josemaria talks about - and the idea of a hierarchy of value among the laity, an unpopular idea in today’s society. It also got me thinking, if I’ve never done anything in the world to merit Knighthood, and certainly nothing to merit nobility (Britain still gives noble titles - though they are no longer inheritable - to people who have made a significant contribution to public life, or, more cynically, a signi£icant contribution to £abour party funds), what makes me think I even remotely qualify for admission to the even higher estate of the priesthood? Would I not be better working hard in this life, acknowledging the value of my given estate in life, and schooling my children in the values of true nobility of soul in the hope that they might be worthy of the priesthood? One thing I appreciate about the Catholic Church in the South of England is that its’ priests remain an elite (many of them schooled at Oxford or Cambridge, appreciating the finer things of culture as well as of faith). Is this just the snob in me talking? Can anyone honestly live this way in the modern world? Am I confusing nobility of virtue with the false honours of the world?
What is the role of Knighthood in the modern Church? All opinions welcome.