If it’s tempting to think that a 129-year-old Catholic fraternal organization with trappings of intricately plumed hats and shiny capes might be waning in popularity and influence this century, think again.
The American-born Knights of Columbus, which evolved into an international order, describes itself as the strong right arm of parish priests. And for a 40th consecutive year, its ranks have swelled, hitting an all-time high in 2010 of 1.82 million members from 14,174 councils.
The first Knights of Columbus council in Colorado was established in Denver in 1900, and more than 300 local Knights were part of the 2,500 delegates holding their three-day Supreme Convention in Denver this week.
The Knights’ interests are diverse, from disaster relief for tornado- and flood-stricken states to millions of dollars in scholarships for seminarians. The Knights also buy the pope the latest in telecommunications equipment to spread the gospel.
Archbishop Charles Chaput, who will be leaving Denver in September to shepherd the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, officiated at the convention’s opening Mass on Tuesday, with 11 cardinals and 75 bishops and archbishops in attendance.
Chaput called the Knights the embodiment of Christian charity and American compassion.
During the recent recession, the order’s charitable contributions grew each year, from $144 million in 2006 to a record $154.6 million in 2010.
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson announced that the next big project will be joining forces with an African- founded order, the Apostles of Jesus, to help some of the 15 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan Africa with food, clothing and shelter.
One longstanding tradition of the Knights, Anderson said, is support for the Special Olympics, co-founded by Brother Knight Sargent Shriver. In the past year, more than 74,000 Knights volunteered 268,000 hours at the games and events where the disabled compete. Councils donated more than $3.3 million as well to the Special Olympics in 2010.
Anderson also pledged the Knights’ continued allegiance to church teaching on the sacredness of life and marriage between a man and a woman.
“In many ways, society has lost track of what’s most important,” Anderson said. “Every child has the right to be born and to be raised by a mother and a father.”
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
