Utah Knights celebrate Fourth Degree’s 125 years

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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More than 70 men became Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus during the March 29 Exemplification of Patriotism, the largest ever for the Utah Knights of Columbus.

HOLLADAY — In an historic ceremony on March 29, the Utah Knights of Columbus celebrated the international fraternal organization’s 125th anniversary of their Fourth Degree, the highest level of their order.

The Knights of Columbus was founded in Connecticut in 1882 by Father Michael McGivney. At first there were three degree levels based on the principles of charity, unity and fraternity. The fourth level, patriotism, was added in 1900.

Prior to this year, the induction ceremonies were for members only. However, at the national 125th anniversary celebration on Feb. 22 in New York City, a revised ceremony was unveiled that allows family members and friends to attend, said Nick Nielson, Utah District Master of the Fourth Degree.

The March 29 event at Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Holladay was the first time the revised ceremony was used in Utah. It also was the state’s largest ever Exemplification of Patriotism, to use the formal term, with 76 men registered to receive the Fourth Degree.

Because of the anniversary, the national office challenged the state groups to meet 125 percent of their yearly goal for new Fourth Degree members. The Utah Knights’ goal was 57 men; previously, the largest group was 52, “so for us to hit over 72 Knights seemed to be an impossible task,” Nielson said.

However, with hard work they were able to meet the challenge, he said.

Among the men receiving the Fourth Degree at the ceremony were Father Omar Ontiveros, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Orem; Father Victor Alvarado, parochial vicar of St. Joseph Parish in Ogden; and Nielson’s 18-year-old son, he said.

The ceremony attracted Knights from throughout Utah. Bob Meierdierks and Pat Trim came from the Moab area, where they are trying to establish a Knights council, they said. Currently, they are members of the council at Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Price.

Trim, who has been a Knight for about 30 years, said the organization’s camaraderie and fraternity has kept him involved; he decided to become a Fourth Degree this year because of the historic nature of the ceremony, and also because he thinks being able to accomplish all four degrees “is a feat,” he said.

Meierdierks, who has been a Knight for about a year, said he thought the ceremony was impressive. He joined the organization because of the “worthy causes it has; what it does for the world, basically,” he said.

Similarly, Francisco Palacios, a parishioner at St. Andrew Parish in Riverton, is “very grateful because now I can serve the People of God through the Knights,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter.

Originally from Peru, Palacios was invited to join the Knights by a fellow parishioner, he said.

Much of the ceremony was devoted to the contributions of Catholics to the United States, including those of Thomas Dongan, who was appointed governor of colonial New York in 1682; Charles Carroll, who signed the Declaration of Independence and whose cousin John Carroll joined the Jesuits in 1755 and later became the first Archbishop of Baltimore, the first Catholic diocese in the U.S.;  Joyce Kilmer, a Knight and poet who was killed in battle in World War I; various priests who have served as military chaplains in conflicts from the Revolutionary War to the conflict in Iraq; and the nameless thousands who have contributed to charitable Catholic efforts throughout the years.

“Through countless acts of charity and unity, we have hopes to build a fraternal bond of fellowship throughout our nation,” the speaker said during the ceremony.

The new Fourth Degree Knights pledged in part to support the Constitution of the United States, to conscientiously perform the duties of a citizen, and to practice their religion consistently and faithfully. They also received a lapel pin depicting the emblem of the Fourth Degree.

The ceremony exemplified “what it means to be not just a patriot or an American patriot, but to be a Catholic American patriot,” Nielson said. “It really gives you a sense of pride.”

Becoming a Fourth Degree Knight has “made me a better citizen of this country, let alone a better Catholic, and how to be a steward of that,” he said.

Having the ceremony now open to family and friends is “awesome,” said Robert Masse, Jr., a former District Master and past State Deputy who has been a Knight for 35 years, “because [of] the history that is in the whole presentation of Catholic faith and Catholic men in the United States. It honors our Catholic priests, it honors our heroes, and there’s nothing secret about that.”