Please tell me more about the Knights of Columbus

[dochawk]

The organization became more involved in Republican politics, prodigiously funding conservative political causes, and took on a strong anti-LGBT outlook.

Uh, no. This sentence has nothing to do with reality.

The KofC is not politically active, does not support any party, and is not involved in any “political” issues other than abortion (and we’ve now placed a full thousand high-end ultrasound machines in pro-life clinics).

In fact, in the real world, politics are explicitly prohibited.

We simply do not have any LGBT positions ( other than that we support the entire teaching of the church).

We have no association with the Republican Party, although their abortion positions are more compatible with ours than the other party.

We did lead the campaign that put “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance.

About 1950, we did throw our weight around when it turned out that the hotel in DC where our convention was scheduled did not admit blacks. We did not accept the offer to allow them for that meeting, and insisted upon a permanent policy change.

We won.

And then, to drive the point home, chose a black priest for the celebrant of the main Mass . . .

That’s pretty much all of the politics in which we’ve ever engaged.

And after 9/11, we were the first on the scene with relief: on 9/13, our insurance agents were in the field delivering $10,000 checks to the families of each fallen first responder. We raised the money after the fact.

and the ladies auxiliary

Which one? We have three

The Catholic daughters are formally associated with us as such, there are also Ladies Auxiliaries for some councils, and we have (had?) the Columbiettes, which actually had degrees as well.

hawk, PFN, PGK, CGK, etc

 

[dochawk]

I dunno about you guys, but the secret society stuff is awesome!

That would be a good trick, as we don’t have any . . . in fact, our oath specifically excepts civil and religious duties from secrecy.

And what little secrecy we have is simply because the lessons of the degrees wouldn’t be as effective for someone who knew the ceremony in advance.

Their founder, Venerable Father Michael McGivney, a priest, is up for beatification and canonization, so they aren’t Freemason in the least. I pray for his cause regularly, I got a prayer card of him at the Knights fish fry.

There is actually a Fr. McGivney field with a monthly newsletter to advocate his cause. If you can’t sign up online (I think you can), pm me with your email and physical address, and we should be able to add you.

They were started primarily to provide insurance benefits to Catholic widows and their children. The United States had many such organizations then, because there wasn’t really a private insurance industry for people who weren’t rich, so when a man died people would have to pass the hat for his family who had suddenly lost their main source of income.

This.

It took a few years before we could actually institute an insurance program.

Catholics had the most dangerous jobs (particularly the Irish). Fr. McGivney was previously involved in the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, and wanted something for all Catholics.

Until the insurance program was in place, it was expected that each member would contribute $5, a staggering sum at the time, each time a member died.

[historical note: the AOH was formed to hide Catholic priests from the British army in Ireland, as they were summarily executed. The AOH asked Irish men in the US to form the AOH in America to protect the female Irish immigrants. [and being that the Irish were the only group where the women came here before the men, one of the things they were protecting them from was marrying Protestants ]).]

That’s odd. Why insurance?

Others have answered, but I’ll note that we’re the only nonprofit insurance with a AAA rating, and you can’t touch our rates elsewhere until you get to huge policies. A million dollar policy cost far less than 100 times as much to back as a ten thousand dollar policy, but we used to stay strictly proportional. There are now some breaks on the large policies, but not enough to match the best rates else.

Oh, and they don’t force you to sit through the presentation, although the insurance arm is required to contact every new member about it.

hawk

 

[jack63]

Catholics had the most dangerous jobs (particularly the Irish). Fr. McGivney was previously involved in the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America, and wanted something for all Catholics.

[historical note: the AOH was formed to hide Catholic priests from the British army in Ireland, as they were summarily executed. The AOH asked Irish men in the US to form the AOH in America to protect the female Irish immigrants.

I remember looking at my old family pictures. I saw my Great Grandfather with an Ancient Order of Hibernians sash. He and his family went back and forth between the US and Ireland. They couldn’t really decide where they wanted to live. I always wondered what happened to AOH, so the history your sharing is interesting. Any other connections between AOH and the Knights of Columbus?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I always wondered what happened to AOH

They’re still around. They are quite visible at a lot of St. Patrick’s Day parades.

https://aoh.com/

If it wasn’t limited to men only, I’d join it myself.
Edited to add, I see they now have a Ladies AOH, I’ll get right on that. I qualify.

 

[dochawk]

Any other connections between AOH and the Knights of Columbus?

If you tour both headquarters, the ceremonial robes of the KofC are clearly derived form the AOH.

There are doubtless ore.

I belonged tot the AOH for. a couple of years in PA, but there isn’t a chapter in NV anymore.

 

[jrgmercado]

Don’t forget that he original group of future Knights were denied a charter from the Independent Order of Foresters

 

[GUYMAN]

Well said - I’m a Knight on NJ.

 

[PDXSeeker_1975]

I think it’s great. I just know I would be wildly out of place as an early 40s single with repeated inability to commit to anything and no clear path to either religious life or marriage.

 

[jrgmercado]

I’m an early 40’s married guy and I’m wildly out of place but perfectly integrated into my council.

 

[jack63]

I’m wildly out of place nearly everywhere I go. I stopped caring about a decade ago.

 

[PDXSeeker_1975]

Holy Name is fairly active in St. Louis where I originally entered the Church. I was part of my Parish chapter for a while before moving back to Oregon.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

That’s great to know. So far I’ve only seen the one parish trying to bring it back. I would love to see it come back to more parishes so men would have a second option besides K of C.

 

[PDXSeeker_1975]

Yeah, I dont think it’s as big as it used to be, but it’s there. KoC seemed to be more active at the Diocesan level in STL while in the PDX archdiocese they’re pretty present in every parish.

 

[jack63]

This is a fair comment though…

For example, if you are moving from job to job in different cities or even states, this makes committing to some organization like KofC very difficult. It also makes committing to marriage (or finding a woman who can live with this) difficult.

Is this what you mean?

 

[YourNameHere]

What the insurance stuff all about? What does insurance have to do with serving God and serving the Catholic Church? That does a little weird.

 

[Joe_5859]

What the insurance stuff all about? What does insurance have to do with serving God and serving the Catholic Church? That does a little weird.

This has been answered above. The Knights of Columbus was founded in the 19th century principally to financially assist Catholic widows when their husbands died (since there were many Catholic immigrants of lower economic class who would have no other means to support themselves when the father and breadwinner unexpectedly passed). Hence the life insurance.

It is very much born out of serving the poor of the Church.

 

[YourNameHere]

Thanks Joe. Sorry that I did not read all of the other posts first.

 

[jrgmercado]

Once upon a time, if a widow wasn’t able to show that they could support their families, the kids could be taken away from them. Quiet a few Life Insurance companies started out this way. Look up mutual aid societies.

 

[Joe_5859]

No problem. I can understand why people scratch their heads about it as “insurance salesman” and “Catholic apostolate” are not two things that ordinarily go together in people’s minds. I was the same way at first until I learned the history of it. Then it made perfect sense.

 

[PDXSeeker_1975]

I wish that was the reason. I haven’t actually moved that much. I was in STL almost 5 years and back here for 18 months (where I lived my whole life otherwise) It’s just always been really hard for me to find anyone and stay committed to it in the rare case when I do. I also know that with KoC just like everything else, I’d be into it for maybe 6 months and then disappear back into my solo bubble.