The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-10-19
IDEAL CATHOLIC GENTLEMAN
Characteristics forming Base of Organization of the
Order of Knights of Columbus.

! Last Sunday a new council of the
knights of Columbus was instituted
at Chattanooga, Tenn. About sixty
candidates were initiated, the first and
second degrees being conferred by a
Nashville team, and the third by Grand
Knight p. ]. Brady and team of Cleye-
land, o. A large number of visiting
knights were present. and with the
candidates attended Mass at IS. Peter
and Paurs church. Rev. Thomas n.
Tobin, the pastor. preached. and ex-
tended a cordial welcome to the Wis
itOrs. He spoke of the necessity of
unity of action between the clergy and
/ the laity, and said it should be the
happy privilege of the knights of
| Columbus to promote this unity. He
! spoke of the high principles and sound
morality of the order and voiced the
wish that it might grow and flourish
and continue to be a sple ndid Catholic
organization, source of comfort to ev-
cry priest, of strength to the Church
and of just and lawful pride to every
Catholic in the land.
At the banquet in the evening, the
opening prayer was offered by Rt. Rev.
| Bishop Bryne of Nashville who also
responded to the toast "Knighthood"
in the following eloquent words:
BISHOP BYRNE'S ADDRESS.
1t is great pleasure for me to well
come the Knights of Columbus from
other cities and states to Chattanoo-
ga; and this l do. speaking in my own
name and in the name of the pastor
and the Catholics of this city. 1t
would be pleasure to welcome any
body of Catholic gentlemen, but this
| pleasure is greatly enhanced by the
fact that you are not only representa-
tive gentlemen; you are distinctively
Catholics.
These two characteristics lies at the
basis of your organization. and 1 trust
| they will ever continue to be the tests
and standards of your membership
All organizations like this are the re-
suit of the thought of one man, who
has meditated deeply upon some spe-
cial need of his age, and who is so
possessed and carried away with the
Importance of that need and the neces-
sity of meeting it that he resolves to
give his time and his energies to it's
realization.
I can conceive that your founder
was led on to found your society by
some such motive as this: He looked
about him; he studied the tendencies
and the spirit of the age, and he saw
that men in undertaking any work Of
Importance combined together, entered
into associations and sought the aid
and counsel of their fellow men. To
combine, to associate topether. Wheth-
er for interest or pleasure, is the
spirit of the age, and catholics no less
than others are affected by it and come
under it's influence.
But your founder saw that in all
this there was an element of danger
for Catholics. He saw that political
methods were introduced into associa-
tons of Catholics and that a few sell
fish men managed to get control of
them and use them for base and sell
fish ends. They were made instru-
ments by which these men were car
ried into power. and agencies to in
crease their Importance hafnre the pub
lie. When these societies turned out
on some public. civic Or other occasion
these men were at their front with
their insignia of rank and authority:
they set themselves IN as leader. and
typical representatives, in Israel, TO
the surprise of the public at large and
to the disgust, Indignation and shame
of Catholics
This is what your founder saw, and
what he wanted to correct by creating
an organization whose members would
be typical gentlemen: an organization
which would not lend itself to the sell
fish ends of any INSCRIPTIONS cabal Or
clique: which would refuse TO be mis-
represented before the public by men
serving their own purposes, and whose
standard Of membership should be so
high and so exacting that the very