Religion: Knights of the Church

Small boys, grown men—and especially Irishmen—love secret societies. In 1882, Father Michael J. McGivney, a Roman Catholic priest in New Haven, Conn., was so worried about this tendency that he decided to join it. Though he knew that church teaching forbade Catholics to join existing secret organizations, he proposed to his fellow priests of the Hartford diocese that they start a society of their own, to keep their immigrant Irish-Catholic parishioners out of the clutches of groups like the Masons or the Oddfellows. Wrote Father McGivney, “Our primary object is to prevent our people from entering secret societies, by offering the same, if not better, advantages to our members.” The church gave its O.K.

In Los Angeles last week, Father McGivney’s secret society, the Knights of Columbus, held its annual convention, commemorating the 70th anniversary of its founding and the 100th of Father McGivney’s birth. Total membership is now 829,634. Besides satisfying the native American fondness for plumed hats and recondite lodge rituals, the Knights have a comprehensive system of insurance and sick benefits for members. Like secular secret societies, they also manage various charitable activities.

After hearing an opening speech by Cardinal Spellman and attending a grand ball in Hollywood, the Knights of 1952 passed some resolutions in the spirit of their founder. Among them:

1) A plea that Knights and their fellow Americans give a “close and careful scrutiny” to the operations of UNESCO (see below). Reason: UNESCO, “in some of its expressed views, advances theories which would support birth control as a truly scientific solution of problems of population and human betterment . . .”

2) A protest against Communist genocide behind the Iron Curtain.

3) A protest against the partition of Ireland, and a petition asking the State Department to do all in its power to restore Ireland to unity, i.e., bring Northern Ireland’s Protestant Orangemen under the green, white, and orange flag of Eire.