Please tell me more about the Knights of Columbus

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Please tell me more about the Knights of Columbus… My interaction with men in the group has been positive. They seem like decent friendly men.
  1. I’d like to hear about good experiences or bad experiences.
  2. What type of service does the organization do?
  3. What are the orders about. What is a 4th order?
  4. Are there many young men in the organization?
  5. I was googling it, and I found an article about how they have new uniforms. Actually the fourth order uniforms look good! However, I would not mind if they got rid of the swords though. What happened to those swords?
 
I was approached by the Knights in a parish I used to belong to. They seemed like good men but one man very aggressive with his seeking my membership. I was later approached by a deacon who was also a member of the Knights who asked me if I was interested and I told him I wasn’t. He was much more understanding and the other guy backed off. I get that they want young men in their group because I primarily see men above the age of 50 involved with the Knights but it just wasn’t for me. I don’t love the secret society aspect of it. Aside from pancake breakfasts and some community parades I don’t see them do much. I know one of their Charisms is protection of the Blessed Sacrament which I find fascinating and I respect very much. I’ve thought about seeing what the Knights in my current parish are like but again the whole secret society aspect and levels of membership thing really deters me. That is my experience (or non-experience) with the Knights, hope it helped.
 
jack63 said:
Please tell me more about the Knights of Columbus… My interaction with men in the group has been positive. They seem like decent friendly men.
OK, I’ll take a stab at it. I’ve been a member of our local Council for several years.hardly a secret society unless you view having regular business meetings closed to non members. Take a look at their national website or Facebook page.
  1. I’d like to hear about good experiences or bad experiences.
    No bad experiences to mention. Like any volunteer organization, members are varied.
  2. What type of service does the organization do?
    On a local level we support our parish and community. Some thing our small local Council have done include: sponsoring and serving for our Parish picnic, providing food and refreshments after Lenten Stations of the Cross (develop parish community), raise and donate money to local food banks, developmental disabled center, and needy in the community. We have helped fund a ultrasound machine for a center across from an abortion clinic. Again, for nation and international service, I would suggest viewing the website.
  3. What are the orders about. What is a 4th order?
    Eh, don’t worry too much about that. First second, and third degree are the basics. My opinion is most men attain these at once initially. Perhaps they were originally designed differently. Fourth degree Knights provide service to other Councils, the Diocese, State, and National functions; most visibly through the honor guards.
  4. Are there many young men in the organization?
    I think that is really dependent on the Parish and it’s makeup.
  5. I was googling it, and I found an article about how they have new uniforms. Actually the fourth order uniforms look good! However, I would not mind if they got rid of the swords though. What happened to those swords?
    There was a redesign in the regalia for the members of the Fourth Degree. Some like it, some do not.
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Knights of Columbus home page
 
I’m a Knight, 4th degree.
  • There isn’t any ,“secret society stuff”.
  • True, like most Catholic Catholic groups, there’s a preponderance of older men in some councils. So what? There is likely another council nearby that has younger guys, if you prefer.
  • Some councils are more active than others. Even in a less active council, there’s mutual friendship and support, as Catholic men. But there’s also encouragement towards K of C programs, which you can find on the website.
  • The K of C is the biggest prolife organization in the world, other than the Church itself. This, alone, is reason to join.
 
jack63 said:
Please tell me more about the Knights of Columbus… My interaction with men in the group has been positive. They seem like decent friendly men.
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Before 2000, they were mostly a fraternal and charitable group and a solid insurance company, as well.

In 2000, their new leader was Carl Anderson, a right-wing political operative who had worked from the Reagan White House and Senator Jesse Helms. The organization became more involved in Republican politics, prodigiously funding conservative political causes, and took on a strong anti-LGBT outlook. That is one reason why younger people are not attracted to the movement. Another reason is that younger people are abandoning social fraternal organizations like the Masons, the Elks, the Moose, the Rotary Club and so on. The third reason is that they are abandoning religion in droves, whether Catholic or Protestant, Christian or otherwise.
 
The K of C has been growing, about one percent a year, for many years.
 
My husband joined the Knights about four years ago. He is one of the younger guys in his council. The knights do a lot of good work – but they don’t necessarily blow their own horns about it. I see them helping a lot of people at the parish level. If you join, there will be an insurance agent who comes to your house to sell you insurance. We didn’t buy it, and that was okay. But they do make you sit through the presentation.
Anyway, it’s been very helpful to my husband spiritually as well, and he truly treasures the friendship of a group of strong committed Catholic men. They are all positive family men, and they are a good influence on my husband.
I’d say they are worth checking out!
 
commenter said:
I’m a Knight, 4th degree.
  • There isn’t any ,“secret society stuff”.
  • True, like most Catholic Catholic groups, there’s a preponderance of older men in some councils. So what? There is likely another council nearby that has younger guys, if you prefer.
  • Some councils are more active than others. Even in a less active council, there’s mutual friendship and support, as Catholic men. But there’s also encouragement towards K of C programs, which you can find on the website.
  • The K of C is the biggest prolife organization in the world, other than the Church itself. This, alone, is reason to join.
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Your last point has become an important one for me.

Catholics need to form service organizations outside the parish walls if we are going to leaven our culture.
 
I dunno about you guys, but the secret society stuff is awesome!
 
The K of C are pretty visible in a couple of dioceses where I worship. Aside from pancake breakfasts, spaghetti dinners, and Lenten fish fry, they also are present at a lot of large special Masses at the Cathedral, or away from the Cathedral but with the Bishop presiding. They sponsored pro-life prayer services and promoted and helped run the St. John Vianney Relic Tour, which made a bunch of stops around here. I’ve also seen them at veterans’ Masses and traditionalist Marian Masses.

I think they attract a lot of men who are into tradition. They’re also not necessarily based in a parish. Last time my parish had a bishop’s Mass with them, I talked to one and he was actually from the Byzantine church several miles away.

I really hope they persist as we need more organizations focused specifically on Catholic men. The Holy Name Society was the other society I remember as being for men but it’s pretty defunct everywhere although I saw one parish trying to bring it back recently.
 
CapitalistCatholic said:
the secret society stuff is awesome
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Ok, my husband is a 4th degree Knight and there is no “secret Society stuff”! These men work hard promoting pro-life issues, supporting their individual parish, and evangelizing. What’s not to love about all of that?
 
You’ll make lots of great friends, have lots of fun doing worthwhile activities. and the ladies auxiliary usually makes great Christmas cookies! You’ll learn how to make blueberry and choc chip pancakes too 🙂

Seriously, I can’t think of a single negative aspect to belonging to the KofC
 
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Each council is different, much like the parishes we serve. At 42, I’m def one of the young members pulling the average down.

Just for the record, there is a big difference between Supreme (National level), State and local Knights of Columbus. There are things at the Supreme and State level that I don’t agree with and many of my brother Knights feel the same way about but I don’t “work” for Supreme and State. We have 4 service programs and most Knights will work those that they can or are most interested in.

I joined the Knights at a time when I needed something “extra” in my life. There have been times of frustration but for the most part, I am happy that I joined. If you have any specific question please feel free to contract me.

PGK, FN
 
It does vary from place to place. But speaking as one who has worked in parishes and Catholic entities for years, the generosity of the Knights is awesome. They donate time and money to a lot of worthwhile causes and evangelization efforts.
 
I want to add that while they drive me crazy, my brother Knights have always been there for me. I have gotten many words of encouragement and support as well as the much deserved taking down when I’ve gotten too big for my breeches.
 
@jrgmercado…How long have you been involved?
jrgmercado said:
We have 4 service programs and most Knights will work those that they can or are most interested in.
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I’m very interested in the service programs. I think that would be very meaningful to me. What are the 4 service programs, which ones are you involved in, and what do like about those service programs?
jrgmercado said:
much deserved taking down when I’ve gotten too big for my breeches.
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What does this mean? 🤔
 
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