Supreme Knight's Report

Church Activities

In Turkey, Pope Benedict XVI made significant steps in relations with Muslims while also putting forth a positive message about the world's need for peace and reconciliation.

We also have endowment funds that provide substantial support to the Pontifical North American, Canadian and Mexican colleges in Rome, as well as the American College in Louvain, Belgium.

 We also support advanced studies for priests from Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Canada and México. Total donations from our vocation endowment funds this year were more than $1.1 million.

Our support of priestly vocations is a natural extension of our support of priestly ministry. Today, there are plenty of people willing to tell our priests and bishops how to do their jobs.

What they need are people willing to help them do their jobs. We Knights are the men who say, “Father, how can we help you?”

I am very proud of the thousands of councils and hundreds of thousands of brother Knights who are leading the renewal of parish life. Members like those of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Council 13719 in Anthem, Ariz., who raise money for their parish by operating a concession stand at Arizona Cardinals’ home football games.

At the end of the season, the council turned over a check for more than $25,000 to their pastor for the construction of a new church building.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, members of St. Raphael’s Council 12431 made a three-year commitment to the pastor to help with the addition of a 5,000-square-foot parish hall and rectory. True to their word, Knights worked more than 2,000 hours on the project, doing much of the tough manual labor themselves, and also donated more than $5,000 for furnishing the hall.

Knights of St. Patrick’s Council 643 in Parsons, Kan., called their project “Put Out Into the Deep,” after the theme of our 2002 convention. The council adopted a parish in El Salvador and raised funds for the construction of a new church there, where the first Mass was offered this past February.

We also welcome to our convention this year Archbishop Fouad Twal, coadjutor for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Our Pacem in Terris Fund supports the work of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and since its inception has provided almost $600,000 to assist what is one of the most important and delicate missions in the Catholic world.

Next year, the Archdiocese of Québec will host the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress, and we are continuing to provide both financial and volunteer support to His Eminence Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., in preparation for that event.

Our Lady of Charity

We have also provided $200,000 this year to the Archdiocese of Havana, Cuba, for the education of its seminarians. We are honored this year to welcome His Eminence Cardinal Jaime Ortega, archbishop of Havana. It was 100 years ago this month, during our Supreme Convention, that the bishops of Cuba requested the Knights begin activities in their country, which we did in 1908.

This year, we will begin a new year of Marian devotion through our Pilgrim Virgin program. This year of prayer will emphasize the first principle of the Order and is dedicated to Our Lady of Charity, patroness of Cuba. As the image of Our Lady of Charity is venerated at thousands of our councils, we will ask our brother Knights and their families to recite the rosary for the intentions of our Holy Father during the coming fraternal year.

Last fall, as the world watched in anticipation of the Holy Father’s visit to Turkey, the Order mobilized millions of Catholics worldwide to join the pope in a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer for the success of his trip.

Our Marian pilgrimage this year will once again be a special occasion for our Order to unite closely with our Holy Father. This will also be an occasion to remember our brother Knights in Cuba and of the mission of the Church there.