JULY_AUG 19 E 6_19 FINAL rev.qxp_Mar E 12 6/19/19 2:49 PM Page 7
K N I G H T S O F C O LU M BU S N E W S
K of C Headquarters Stands Tall for Half a Century
TOP LEFT: Photo by Jake Wright — TOP RIGHT: August 1969 Columbia cover/Archive — BOTTOM: Photo courtesy of the Marcha por la Vida
Knights March for Life in Canada, Mexico TENS OF THOUSANDS of people in Canada and Mexico, including many Knights of Columbus and their families, gathered in May to show their support for the dignity and protection of all human life. Canada’s 22nd annual National March for Life was held May 9 in Ottawa. Fourth Degree Knights helped to lead the march after the rally on Parliament Hill, and about 50 Knights from Ontario, under the leadership of Ontario State Deputy Daniel Heffernan, distributed K of C “Choose Life” signs and assisted as marshals along the march route.
Supreme Warden Graydon Nicholas and Supreme Directors Larry Kustra, Arthur Peters and Arcie Lim were also present, representing Knights of various provinces. Nine days later, Knights in Mexico joined some 30,000 demonstrators at the eighth annual Marcha por la Vida (March for Life) in Mexico City. The May 18 event drew people from 13 Mexican states, many of them holding brightly colored signs provided by the Caballeros de Colón as they walked from the Monument to Motherhood to the Legislative Assembly building.♦
FIFTY YEARS AGO, the Knights of Columbus cut the ribbon on its new Supreme Council headquarters in New Haven, Conn. The dedication took place during the 87th Supreme Convention, with many church and government dignitaries in attendance. The governor of Connecticut and the archbishop of Hartford addressed the crowd, and the Vatican’s apostolic delegate to the U.S. gave a blessing. Then-Supreme Knight John W. McDevitt described the new building as an “acknowledgment of all the labors, all the sacrifices, all the good errands quietly completed, all the unnoted kindnesses of all our brother Knights.” He added, “These are the substance of the foundation from which it rose. Without them it would not be.” The first Knights of Columbus headquarters was a room in a small building on the New Haven Green. The Order moved five times within New Haven before breaking ground on the current site in 1967. The structure — 23 stories of steel, concrete and glass — was designed by the firm of award-winning architect Kevin Roche, who passed away March 1. An exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the headquarters will be at the K of C Museum from August 1, 2019, to June 14, 2020.♦
JULY/AUGUST 2019
♦ COLUMBIA ♦ 7