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Knights gather in Washington

Richard Szczepanowski | Catholic News Service

A member of the Knights of Columbus stands during a Mass celebrating the opening of the 128th supreme convention at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Aug. 3.

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A member of the Knights of Columbus looks on during a Mass celebrated Aug. 3 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to open the fraternal organization’s 128th supreme convention in Washington.

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Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana accepts applause after receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award from Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, right, during the Knights of Columbus 128th Supreme Convention in Washington Aug. 3. The distinction is the highest honor bestowed by the Knights. It has been presented to eight individuals since 1992. Cardinal Ortega was cited for his “heroic witness to the faith” in Cuba.

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Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl addresses the Knights of Columbus during the organization’s States Dinner at the 128th Supreme Convention in Washington Aug. 3.

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WASHINGTON – Knights of Columbus are called to evangelize, to
be charitable and to serve as instruments of God’s love,
Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl said Aug. 3 at a Mass
opening the Catholic fraternal organization’s 128th annual
supreme convention.

“We are to be heralds of the Gospel of life – from conception
to natural death; witnesses to the splendor of truth – that
there is an objective right and wrong; ministers of the
sacrament of charity,” Archbishop Wuerl said in his homily.

More than 4,000 Knights of Columbus and members of their
families packed the Basilica of the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception for the Mass.

“In quiet contradiction to all of the other lifestyles,
options and opinions, we are to be champions of the new
evangelization,” Archbishop Wuerl said. “(We are) empowered
to be, through our words and deeds, through our proclamation
and acts of charity, a sign – a living sign, visible sign and
effective sign – of the risen Christ present in our world.”

He reminded the Knights that “God’s love made manifest in
Christ is supposed to be reflected, shared in our care for
one another. We are our brother’s keeper.”

“The very origins of our order are rooted in the recognition
that we are called to exercise a ministry of service and
charity,” Archbishop Wuerl said.

The Knights were meeting Aug. 3-5 in Washington. The Mass –
concelebrated by eight cardinals, more than 70 bishops and
more than 120 priests – was the official start of the annual
gathering.

The U.S. cardinals at the Mass included Cardinals William W.
Baum and Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishops of
Washington; Edmund C. Szoka, a retired Vatican official and
former archbishop of Detroit; Francis E. George of Chicago,
president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Justin
Rigali of Philadelphia; and Sean P. O’Malley of Boston. Also
at the Mass were Cardinals Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana and
Gaudencio Rosales of Manila, Philippines.

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde was among the concelebrants.

Knights came from throughout the country and as far away as
Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic and Poland.

Archbishop Wuerl told the Knights and their family members to
be “children of the God who is love and who calls us to
manifest our love for him and our love for others.”

Referring to Pope Benedict XVI’s recent creation of the
Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, Archbishop
Wuerl asked the Knights to manifest Christ’s love to the
“highly secular culture in which we live, with its focus
almost entirely limited on material things and overly and
overtly individualistic.”

“All around us are those who need to hear all over again –
maybe for the first time with true appreciation – that Jesus
is Lord, that the risen Lord is with us today, and that his
Gospel is the path of both truth and life everlasting,” he
said.

Christopher Kernan, the general program director for the
Florida state council of the Knights of Columbus, said
Archbishop Wuerl’s call for the Knights to evangelize is
something that he can relate to personally.

“I was out of the church for 35 years. When I came back, I
found in the Knights a group of men who had shared a common
religion,” Kernan told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of
the Washington Archdiocese. “If you become an active member
of the Knights of Columbus, you can’t help but become more
active in the church. And when you have a deeper faith, you
naturally reach out to others.”

He called the annual gathering of the Knights “a wonderful
experience where you can talk to the other guys and celebrate
Mass with guys from all over the world.”

John Winfrey, the provincial marshal for Maryland’s Calvert
province, said it was appropriate to open the convention with
Mass at the national shrine.

“We gather in Mary’s home to show our dedication to the
church and to Mary, the queen of the Knights,” he said. “Pope
John Paul II called us ‘the strong right arm of the church,’
and that is a title we hold dear.”

Robert Holstein of Burnsville, N.C., was attending his first
convention. A Knight for just six weeks, he said has learned
that “nobody is a stranger. Whether you have been a Knight
for six weeks or 45 years, these are some of the most
friendly people you will find.”

Looking over the more than 4,000 people gathered at the
shrine, Holstein noted that he comes from a small parish of
only 40 families.

“I have never seen as many Catholics gathered together,” he
said. “I like the idea that we are committed to charity and
giving back to our communities. The Holy Spirit led me to
become a Knight. It was the right decision.”

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