The Knights of St Columba is a fraternal

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a pu ...

order affiliated with the

Catholic Church in Scotland The Catholic Church in Scotland overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church headed by the Pope. After being firmly established in Scotland for nearly a millennium, the Catholic Church was outlawed fo ...

and in England and Wales. Founded in Glasgow in 1919, the Knights are named in honour of Saint Columba, a 6th-century missionary descended from the

Gaelic nobility of Ireland This article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion. It is one of three groups of Irish nobility, the others being ...

in modern County Donegal, who successfully evangelized both the Picts and Gaels of modern Scotland. The Knights describes themselves as dedicated to the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. There are around 4,000 members of the KSC, in over 240 councils across Great Britain — it features in England, Scotland and Wales. Membership is limited to Catholic men aged 16 and over, and promotes the social doctrine of the Catholic Church. The organisation is non-political and essentially democratic, does not admit women, and exists to support the mission of the Catholic Church. The KSC organisation is a member of the

International Alliance of Catholic Knights The International Alliance of Catholic Knights (IACK) is a non-governmental organization made up of fifteen Roman Catholic fraternal orders from 27 countries on six continents. The IACK was founded in Glasgow on 12 October 1979 at a meeting ...

. Founder of the Knights and first Supreme Knight was P. J. O'Callaghan. Admission ceremonies usually take place in a Catholic parish during the celebration of Mass. The group organises annual pilgrimages to Aylesford Priory in Kent and Carfin Lourdes Grotto near

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

in North Lanarkshire.

Organisation

At local level, members belong to a Council or 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 once annually at the Supreme Council which governs the Order. The Supreme Knight presides over the Supreme Council.

Chronology of Supreme Knights

* 1919–1922 Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan * 1922–1929 Edward Henry * 1929–1933 William Bishop KSG * 1933–1936 Thomas Davis * 1936–1945 William Loughrey * 1945–1948 Thomas Leyland * 1948–1951 Laurie Arnold * 1951–1952 Daniel Kelly * 1952–1955 Thomas McMenemy * 1955–1958 James Mitton

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

* 1958–1961 Francis Mildner * 1961–1964 Stuart Harper * 1964–1967 William Austin * 1967–1970 P. N. Scott * 1970–1972 Michael May * 1972–1975 Martin Cairns * 1975–1978 Christopher Seneviratne * 1978–1981 Anthony Rouse KCSG KHS * 1981–1984 P. Layden KCSG KHS * 1984–1987 Walter Downey * 1987–1990 Francis Redmond KCSG * 1990–1993 Anthony Bateman KSG * 1993–1996 Anthony Britten KCSG KCHS * 1996–1999 Kenneth Hargreaves KSG * 1999–2002 Anthony Britten KCSG KCHS * 2002–2005 Anthony Doherty KSG * 2005–2008 John Doran KSG * 2008–2011 Jonjo McDonagh KSG * 2011–2014 Ron Lynch KSG * 2014–2017 Charlie McCluskey KSG * 2017–2021 Bertie M. Grogan KSG * 2021–present Henry Welsh

Ecclesiastical advisers

* Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool * Tom Neylon, Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool (12th ecclesiastical adviser) Knights of St. Columba
New Ecclesiastical Advisor
accessed 20 August 2022

Sources

Notes

References

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External links

Knights of Saint Columba
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knights Of Saint Columba Saint Columbus Religious organizations established in 1882 Catholic Church in North America