Posted on 04/21/2017 9:33:56 AM PDT by hillarynot
I'm giving a talk in early June to a group on the topic of the Knights of Columbus, Who are they? What are they? What have they done for our community in the past; what can they do for our community in the future? What are public perceptions of the Knights of Columbus? I'll also cover some very interesting history of the local Council which has been around for nearly 120 years.
I suspect there are members of the Knights of Columbus who don't really know the answers to these questions.
I'm interested in what non-members of the public think, so, I'm basically conducting a survey of what freepers think of "who the Knights of Columbus are" and "what exactly they do"
Your comments are greatly appreciated.
Do you have to be Grand Pooh-Bah to wear the cape & sword?
Sounds like Sons of Italy, closely related in some areas...............
Bingo, fish fry Fridays, and pancakes!
I used to be a member. I am a convert who was weened on Scott Hahn and Karl Keating but I have been sidelined as I refuse to support Pope Fransoros.
Looking at this as an outsider you gotta give them credit for keeping the name “Colombus” considering how un-PC he is now the last few decades.
When I was growing up, they were guys with swords in church. Man was I mesmerized. If they’d given me a sword, I might never have fallen away.
I think the K of C may be more like a Catholic
version of the Masons than the Kiwanis or Lions because
there is a religious aspect to the organization. I
think I might have heard that the Masons do not
preclude Catholics from membership but that precepts
of the Catholic Church do not mesh with the masons.
They all wear capes and swords on certain occasions (though I think there are differences in color that indicate some sort of rank).
Its just a community service fraternal organization... just like any other.. just its for Catholic Men... It really is the same as any other fraternal community service organization.
As a member you will be doing the same sort of community service things you would do in nearly all organizations.. helping your local community... Yes the organization is tied to the catholic church but hardly is its charter or the things any different.. that’s like saying the St Vincent De Paul society is majorly different in what its goals are than the Salvation Army.. because one is tied to the Catholic Church and the other isn’t.
Yes they are tied to the church, so you aren’t going to find them volunteering at Planned Parenthood.. but it hardly changes what their purpose is beyond any other fraternal organization. In fact, most places I’ve been there is usually a lot of political infighting between the KofC and the local Church.
It looks good but there is really not a large enough Catholic population here for that. We have done something like that before but have done best in front of WalMart until WalMart started restricting us. WalMart is only friendly to Girl Scouts among national orgs now and them only because they have substantial political pull in the legislature.
In the Northeast there are many SofI men in KofC. They go to each others’ spaghetti dinners.
I am a proud member.
As Protestants, we were always told it was the Catholic version of Freemasons because Catholics weren’t allowed to be Masons because Masons had secrets that couldn’t be told in Confession.
Really, that’s what they told us.
LOL - guys remember the swords. The girls remember the feather hats and the gloves.
>>It is a Catholic Fraternal Order.
We are dedicated to Charity, Unity, Fraternity & Patriotism.
I am a proud member.<<
Yes a great group. But I don’t think most non-Catholics or many casual Catholics know of it.
An old Army buddy of mine was Treasurer of the local Knights of Columbus ,he got the boot for embezzling funds or misplacing funds or something to do with funds . He still has the Chicken Feather Hat
109th Annual Convention
May 19-20, 2017
Scottsdale Plaza Resort
Sponsored by Corpus Christi Council 10062, Phoenix, AZ
Arizona State Council
Knights of Columbus
https://www.azkofcstateconvention.org/
Let me put it like this. The K of C is a fraternal service
organization, true. It has a religious aspect to it which
makes it similar to the Masons. HOWEVER, the Kiwanis, Lions, Elks, etc DO NOT have a religious element to it as do
the Masons and the K of C although they are service clubs.
You misunderstand my post. (Intentionally?) I’d take the ceremonially armed KC guy any day, and back when I was a kid, these guys with their sashes and scabbards and swords were the coolest ever, always dressed in suits or tuxes with nary a tea towel on their heads. You are reading what into my comment? That the Catholic order of the Knights of Columbus is somehow equivalent to ISIS? Surely not. It is a charitable organization of considerable note and a defender of Catholicism. You were probably trying to be funnydidn’t work. The Catholics on this forum, whom I do not speak for, would be right to be offended.
that was pretty ignorant .....they do GREAT things, of whichbyounwould know nothing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.