Knights of Saint Columba
Encyclopedia
The Knights of Saint Columba is a Catholic fraternal
service organisation and the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom
. Founded in Glasgow
in 1919, it is named in honour of Saint Columba
, a Christian missionary from Ireland who helped to introduce Christianity to some of the people in the north. The organisation describes itself as being dedicated to the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. There are more than 8,000 members of the KSC, in over 340 councils across Great Britain—it features in England, Scotland and Wales
. Membership is limited to practising Catholic men aged 16 or older, and promotes the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The organisation, which is non-political and essentially democratic, exists to support the mission of the Catholic Church and at the same time to work for the "spiritual and material good of its members and their families". The KSC organisation is a member of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights
. Founder of the Knights and first Supreme Knight was P J O'Callaghan. Following the social teachings of the Catholic Church, members of the Order work for the moral and social welfare of their country and in particular to help the development of young people. Members strive to achieve all these aims through charity, unity and fraternity.
The K.S.C. has been accused of being a secret society but only on the grounds that meetings are open only to members but there is no evidence of secret levels knowledge as with, for example, the Masons or other fraternal organisations ;. Admission ceremonies usually take place in a Catholic church during the celebration of the Mass
.
The Knights of Saint Columba was founded by an Irish migrant from Cork
, Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan in Glasgow
, Scotland
. He gathered a meeting of twenty-four Catholic gentlemen on 5 October 1919, at Central Halls, Bath Street, Glasgow, where the men present agreed to found a fraternal organisation. The founders, known as the Incorporators, looked to model the organisation on the Knights of Columbus
, which had existed since 1882 in the United States
after being founded by priest Michael J. McGivney. A similar organisation had also been founded in Ireland a few years earlier, known as the Knights of Saint Columbanus
, while in Britain there were female specific organisations such as the Catholic Women's League
.
The primary motivation for the Order was to be a mutual benefit society
based on the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. The knights sought the social, economic and spiritual welfare of the members, together with the defence of Catholic principles and interests. It had only been in 1829
that the Catholic Emancipation
had been completed in Britain, there were still some stigmas and socio-economic barriers, especially for Irish and to some extent Highland Catholic migrants to the Presbytarian Lowlands. In the late 19th century, Catholics were regularly excluded from trade union
s and other organisations that provided social services. In addition, Catholics were either barred from many of the popular fraternal organisations, or, as in the case of Freemasonry
, forbidden from joining by the Catholic Church itself. The society was influenced by the social teachings put forward by Pope Leo XIII
in his encyclical Rerum Novarum
.
The first initiation of members began on 11 November 1919, while the following year a concert was held on Saint Patrick's Day
which strongly boosted the membership numbers of the organisation into the hundreds.
The Order is set at three levels: councils are local groups which are arranged into larger groups called provinces. The highest level is a Board of Directors led by the Supreme Knight. There is a Head Office located in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Order was founded. The highest constitutional meeting of the Knights of Saint Columba is the annual conference or Supreme Council and is the body that decides national policy. The Supreme Knight is elected annually and can serve for a maximum of three years. Councils and provinces are chaired by Grand Knights and Provincial Grand Knights respectively and these, too, are in office for a maximum of three years or an additional one year if approval is given by the Supreme Knight.
The Order is noted for its charitable work and has raised money for projects such as assisting health in the developing world, earthquake relief as well as projects in Britain
.
At local level, members belong to a Charter Council, led by the Grand Knight.
The Charter Councils in an area (often corresponding to a Catholic Diocese
) come together to form a Province, under the Provincial Grand Knight. Representatives of the Provinces meet at least annually at the Supreme Council which governs the Order. The Supreme Knight presides over the Supreme Council.
! width=5% | #
! width=10% | Held
! width=20% | Name
! width=5% | #
! width=10% | Held
! width=20% | Name
|-
|align="center"|1||align="center"|1919—1922||align="center"| Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan||align="center"|15 ||align="center"|1970—1972 ||align="center"|Michael May
|-
|align="center"|2||align="center"|1922—1929||align="center"|Edward Henry||align="center"|16||align="center"|1972—1975 ||align="center"|Martin Cairns
|-
|align="center"|3||align="center"|1929—1933||align="center"|William Bishop KCSG
||align="center"|17||align="center"|1975—1978 ||align="center"|Christopher Seneviratne
|-
|align="center"|4||align="center"|1933—1936||align="center"|Thomas Davis||align="center"|18||align="center"|1978—1981||align="center"|Anthony Rouse KC*SG
KHS
|-
|align="center"|5||align="center"|1936—1945||align="center"|William Loughrey||align="center"|19||align="center"|1981—1984 ||align="center"|P Layden
|-
|align="center"|6||align="center"|1945—1948||align="center"|Thomas Leyland ||align="center"|20||align="center"|1984—1987 ||align="center"|Walter Downey
|-
|align="center"|7||align="center"|1948—1951||align="center"|Laurie Arnold||align="center"|21||align="center"| 1987—1990||align="center"|Francis Redmond KCSG
|-
|align="center"|8||align="center"|1951—1952||align="center"|Daniel Kelly||align="center"|22||align="center"|1990—1993 ||align="center"|Anthony Bateman
|-
|align="center"|9||align="center"|1952—1955||align="center"|Thomas McMenemy||align="center"|23||align="center"|1993—1996 ||align="center"|Anthony Britten KSG
|-
|align="center"|10||align="center"|1955—1958||align="center"|James Mitton MBE
||align="center"|24||align="center"|1996—1999 ||align="center"|Kenneth Hargreaves KSG
|-
|align="center"|11||align="center"|1958—1961||align="center"|Francis Mildner||align="center"|25||align="center"|1999—2002||align="center"|Anthony Britten KCSG KSG
|-
|align="center"|12||align="center"|1961—1964||align="center"|Stuart Harper||align="center"|26||align="center"| 2002—2005||align="center"|Anthony Doherty KSG
|-
|align="center"|13||align="center"|1964—1967||align="center"|William Austin||align="center"|27||align="center"|2005—2008 ||align="center"|John Doran KSG
|-
|align="center"|14||align="center"|1967—1970||align="center"|PN Scott||align="center"|28||align="center"|2008—2011 ||align="center"|Jonjo McDonagh KSG
Fraternal and service organizations
A "fraternal organization" or "fraternity" is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. Please list college fraternities and sororities at List of social fraternities and sororities.-International:...
service organisation and the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Founded in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in 1919, it is named in honour of Saint Columba
Columba
Saint Columba —also known as Colum Cille , Colm Cille , Calum Cille and Kolban or Kolbjørn —was a Gaelic Irish missionary monk who propagated Christianity among the Picts during the Early Medieval Period...
, a Christian missionary from Ireland who helped to introduce Christianity to some of the people in the north. The organisation describes itself as being dedicated to the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. There are more than 8,000 members of the KSC, in over 340 councils across Great Britain—it features in England, Scotland and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Membership is limited to practising Catholic men aged 16 or older, and promotes the social doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The organisation, which is non-political and essentially democratic, exists to support the mission of the Catholic Church and at the same time to work for the "spiritual and material good of its members and their families". The KSC organisation is a member of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights
International Alliance of Catholic Knights
The International Alliance of Catholic Knights is a non-governmental organization made up of fifteen Roman Catholic fraternal societies from 27 countries on six continents. The IACK was founded in Glasgow on 12 October 1979 at a meeting of the leaders of six fraternal societies, convened on the...
. Founder of the Knights and first Supreme Knight was P J O'Callaghan. Following the social teachings of the Catholic Church, members of the Order work for the moral and social welfare of their country and in particular to help the development of young people. Members strive to achieve all these aims through charity, unity and fraternity.
The K.S.C. has been accused of being a secret society but only on the grounds that meetings are open only to members but there is no evidence of secret levels knowledge as with, for example, the Masons or other fraternal organisations ;. Admission ceremonies usually take place in a Catholic church during the celebration of the Mass
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
.
History
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He gathered a meeting of twenty-four Catholic gentlemen on 5 October 1919, at Central Halls, Bath Street, Glasgow, where the men present agreed to found a fraternal organisation. The founders, known as the Incorporators, looked to model the organisation on the Knights of Columbus
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
, which had existed since 1882 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
after being founded by priest Michael J. McGivney. A similar organisation had also been founded in Ireland a few years earlier, known as the Knights of Saint Columbanus
Knights of Saint Columbanus
The Order of the Knights of Saint Columbanus is an Irish Catholic fraternal and service organization for lay men over twenty-one years of age.- Organisation :...
, while in Britain there were female specific organisations such as the Catholic Women's League
Catholic Women's League
The Catholic Women's League is a Roman Catholic lay organisation aimed at women in England and Wales. Through emigration in the past, the CWL may be found in some Commonwealth countries. It is especially flourishing in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong. -References:* Olivier Rota,...
.
The primary motivation for the Order was to be a mutual benefit society
Friendly society
A friendly society is a mutual association for insurance, pensions or savings and loan-like purposes, or cooperative banking. It is a mutual organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose...
based on the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. The knights sought the social, economic and spiritual welfare of the members, together with the defence of Catholic principles and interests. It had only been in 1829
Catholic Relief Act 1829
The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on 24 March 1829, and received Royal Assent on 13 April. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic Emancipation throughout the nation...
that the Catholic Emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
had been completed in Britain, there were still some stigmas and socio-economic barriers, especially for Irish and to some extent Highland Catholic migrants to the Presbytarian Lowlands. In the late 19th century, Catholics were regularly excluded from trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
s and other organisations that provided social services. In addition, Catholics were either barred from many of the popular fraternal organisations, or, as in the case of Freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
, forbidden from joining by the Catholic Church itself. The society was influenced by the social teachings put forward by Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
in his encyclical Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum
Rerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15, 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: “Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour”...
.
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
which strongly boosted the membership numbers of the organisation into the hundreds.
The Order is set at three levels: councils are local groups which are arranged into larger groups called provinces. The highest level is a Board of Directors led by the Supreme Knight. There is a Head Office located in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Order was founded. The highest constitutional meeting of the Knights of Saint Columba is the annual conference or Supreme Council and is the body that decides national policy. The Supreme Knight is elected annually and can serve for a maximum of three years. Councils and provinces are chaired by Grand Knights and Provincial Grand Knights respectively and these, too, are in office for a maximum of three years or an additional one year if approval is given by the Supreme Knight.
The Order is noted for its charitable work and has raised money for projects such as assisting health in the developing world, earthquake relief as well as projects in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Organisation
The Charter Councils in an area (often corresponding to a Catholic Diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
) come together to form a Province, under the Provincial Grand Knight. Representatives of the Provinces meet at least annually at the Supreme Council which governs the Order. The Supreme Knight presides over the Supreme Council.
Chronology of Supreme Knights
{| width=80% class="wikitable"! width=5% | #
! width=10% | Held
! width=20% | Name
! width=5% | #
! width=10% | Held
! width=20% | Name
|-
|align="center"|1||align="center"|1919—1922||align="center"| Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan||align="center"|15 ||align="center"|1970—1972 ||align="center"|Michael May
|-
|align="center"|2||align="center"|1922—1929||align="center"|Edward Henry||align="center"|16||align="center"|1972—1975 ||align="center"|Martin Cairns
|-
|align="center"|3||align="center"|1929—1933||align="center"|William Bishop KCSG
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
||align="center"|17||align="center"|1975—1978 ||align="center"|Christopher Seneviratne
|-
|align="center"|4||align="center"|1933—1936||align="center"|Thomas Davis||align="center"|18||align="center"|1978—1981||align="center"|Anthony Rouse KC*SG
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
KHS
Order of the Holy Sepulchre
The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a Roman Catholic order of knighthood under the protection of the pope. It traces its roots to Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, principal leader of the First Crusade...
|-
|align="center"|5||align="center"|1936—1945||align="center"|William Loughrey||align="center"|19||align="center"|1981—1984 ||align="center"|P Layden
|-
|align="center"|6||align="center"|1945—1948||align="center"|Thomas Leyland ||align="center"|20||align="center"|1984—1987 ||align="center"|Walter Downey
|-
|align="center"|7||align="center"|1948—1951||align="center"|Laurie Arnold||align="center"|21||align="center"| 1987—1990||align="center"|Francis Redmond KCSG
Order of St. Gregory the Great
The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great , was established on September 1, 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election.It is one of the five orders of knighthood of the Holy See...
|-
|align="center"|8||align="center"|1951—1952||align="center"|Daniel Kelly||align="center"|22||align="center"|1990—1993 ||align="center"|Anthony Bateman
|-
|align="center"|9||align="center"|1952—1955||align="center"|Thomas McMenemy||align="center"|23||align="center"|1993—1996 ||align="center"|Anthony Britten KSG
|-
|align="center"|10||align="center"|1955—1958||align="center"|James Mitton MBE
MBE
MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...
||align="center"|24||align="center"|1996—1999 ||align="center"|Kenneth Hargreaves KSG
|-
|align="center"|11||align="center"|1958—1961||align="center"|Francis Mildner||align="center"|25||align="center"|1999—2002||align="center"|Anthony Britten KCSG KSG
|-
|align="center"|12||align="center"|1961—1964||align="center"|Stuart Harper||align="center"|26||align="center"| 2002—2005||align="center"|Anthony Doherty KSG
|-
|align="center"|13||align="center"|1964—1967||align="center"|William Austin||align="center"|27||align="center"|2005—2008 ||align="center"|John Doran KSG
|-
|align="center"|14||align="center"|1967—1970||align="center"|PN Scott||align="center"|28||align="center"|2008—2011 ||align="center"|Jonjo McDonagh KSG