Benighted New Knights

(For a benighted New Church)

By Susan Claire Potts, Ph.D.

It’s not always the big things—fires, tornadoes, floods—that destroy a house. Sometimes it’s something really small, like termites. It might take longer, but there’s something even worse about it.

The destruction, the eating away of the structure goes unnoticed until it’s too late. For fifty years, those of us who love our traditions, cherish our rituals, revel in our heritage, have been reeling from one ecclesiastical disaster after another. It’s a mercy anything is left.

But the termites are going to finish the job if we don’t smoke them out.

They’re everywhere, boring into the wood, weakening the rafters, turning the walls to mush. They’re at work now in the Knights of Columbus. They’ve chosen the Color Corps of the Fourth Degree as a most delectable meal.

Soon the Color Corps will be finished, ravaged from within by the Supreme Council.

All they had to do was change the "uniform." Have you heard about it?

Without notifying the membership, without a vote or a consensus, without warning, they eliminated the Corps’ splendid regalia. It was an insidious move, the kind that throws people off guard, makes them question their own common sense. The Supreme Knight said that, for the good of the Order, they had to make the change, modernize the "uniform," update the look.

So why bother to call them Knights anymore? Maybe they’ll need to change the name to Troops of Columbus—if they’re still allowed to keep the name Columbus, in view of our ridiculous ever-expanding "cultural awareness."

Subtle Change of Language

It was a disingenuous sleight of hand that masked a malicious deceit, a deceit of language and purpose, a binding

- See Knights/ Page 5

New Mass, New Catechism, New Evangelization...and now New Knights

Benighted New Knights

S. Potts/ Continued from Page 1 command hidden beneath a plastic veneer of concern and stewardship.

The news reports called the elimination of the regalia a "change of uniform."

Should anyone object, people say, Don’t get all uptight about it. It’s just a minor change, they soothe, an updating. Styles change; uniforms evolve. After all, we have to get with the times. The young people aren’t joining. We have to appeal to them. Sound familiar?

Revolutionaries never change their tactics. It’s the same vapid explanation, the same words even, that were used to justify the horrendous changes in our liturgy and, ultimately, in our faith.

Those in authority have the right to do it, the members are told. The Knights of Columbus is not a democracy, and, finally, there is the mandate, confirmed by oath and promise: We must obey.

So get in lockstep, Sir Knights, and don your new duds.

Pack your plumed chapeau and flowing cape in a trunk in the attic and wear the silly black beret. You can show your solidarity now with a band of brigands—Che Guevara, the IRA, the ETA guerrillas, or the Black Panthers.

If you never served in the military, you can pretend to be a warrior like the Army Rangers or the Green Berets.

Perhaps you have a more artistic bent— you could dress up like bohemian poet.

The good thing for the revisionists is, it’s not gender-specific. Although there are no women knights (yet), it’s something they could wear. There’s no sartorial exclusiveness, so it’s a correct, and very au courant, repudiation of sexism and discrimination. After all, no woman in her right mind would wear a nautical chapeau. That’s for men, everybody knows that. It’s all about being inclusive.

Ah, the glory of unity in diversity.

It was a necessary updating of the uniform, they say. The faithful Knights nod; they have no choice. After all, the order came from above. Who can resist? But, men, look! You’ve been deceived. There’s something behind this, there has to be, but no one knows what it is. Yet one thing is clear: They’ve twisted the language to force their agenda. And that is the perennial modus operandi of change agents. It bears the mark of dishonesty and subterfuge. Oh, it was sly—the duplicity, the calculated misuse of words!

Background and Analysis

In early August, the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors voted to "adopt a new uniform for the Fourth Degree. Neither the general membership nor the Knights of the Fourth Degree were surveyed, consulted, canvassed, or allowed a voice, much less a vote. Consequently, and not surprisingly, the vote was unanimous. The will of the Board prevailed—ignoring almost two million voiceless, voteless members. The change was explained on the website of the Knights of Columbus, August 14, 2017, in a lengthy article entitled: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About the New Fourth Degree Uniform.

Let’s look at their own words and analyze the rationale:

Earlier this month, the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors unanimously voted to adopt a new uniform for the Fourth Degree.

There’s a twist here, a falsification, and all other erroneous explanations follow. First of all, there are two divisions of the Fourth Degree: the regular Fourth Degree and the Color Corps. This is very important because the dress codes differ.

- The official dress of the Fourth Degree (now called the "uniform") is a black tuxedo, plain white tuxedo shirt, black cummerbund, black shoes, and a social baldric worn under the coat from the right should to the left hip. There was no headwear. - The cape, chapeau, gloves, service baldric, and sword are only required of the Color Corps. Other Fourth Degree knights do not wear them So, can you see? They didn’t "adopt a new uniform." They eliminated the Color Corps. Was that the intention all along? Had they only wished to change the general Fourth Degree dress, they could have substituted a blazer, baldric, and patch (but, please, not a beret!) and left the regalia alone.

The next point is that "uniform" and "regalia" are not synonymous— no matter what some new online Thesaurus says. The beautiful, colorful dress of the Color Corps was a link to a Catholic past—capes and swords and chapeaux that were not worn like feathers of a peacock. They were worn as vestments of honor—honor of someone or something else. They were worn at funerals, processions, and, most laudable of all, before the Blessed Sacrament, giving due honor, respect, and allegiance.

The important distinction is, as my husband has pointed out to his brother knights: Regalia is ceremonial; a uniform is not. A uniform is adopted to make someone look just like everyone else. That’s why members of the military and the police force, waitresses and fast food clerks, airline pilots and Catholic school children wear uniforms. A uniform is a badge of belonging. It may have its own honor, but it is not ceremonial.

- Secondly,

the decision was made with the good of the entire Order in mind. While we understand that some members may prefer the old regalia, the supreme master and vice supreme masters urge all Fourth Degree members to put the good of the Order before any personal preference.

And just what is the "good of the order?" They want to attract new members. Do they really think this androgynous new uniform—probably polyester—is going to appeal to anyone? This outfit is rooted in a particular time and place; it will be dated in six months. The Regalia transcends time. It hearkens back to the Age of Chivalry, of distinction, of honor.

Personal preference! What a crock!

It’s like those who say our attachment to the Mass of All Ages is a "personal preference', a matter of style. It follows, doesn’t it? Change the majesty and dignity of the Most Important Things and all the little lesser things fall in place.

Make it pedestrian, make it ordinary, make in inconsequential. Make it so it doesn’t matter, so that nothing really matters in the end.

The Board decided to make this move based on the following factors: - The aging of our Fourth Degree membership.

Comment: Come on! This excuse is ridiculous. Of course, the Fourth Degree membership is aging. It always is. It is the natural order of things. It takes time, commitment, and fidelity to achieve the Fourth Degree. The younger members will get older—they always do. And with age perhaps will come wisdom and an appreciation for what has been handed down by their elders—with the expectation that they’ll keep what they’ve been given.

- The slow growth of the Fourth Degree (fewer than 20% of Knights are fourth Degree members, and only a fraction of that number even serves as honor guards.)

Comment: So shall we not just get rid of then? No one will notice. Also, did the Fourth Degree grow faster in the past? I doubt it. If a membership has four categories, doesn’t it make sense that the lower levels have a greater percentage? All hierarchical structures have fewer at the top and a wide base at the bottom. Otherwise, you’ve bunched everybody together in an egalitarianism reminiscent of the French Revolution or, worse, the Bolsheviks.

- Consistent reports that the old regalia presented a barrier to Fourth Degree membership, especially among younger men.

Comment: And they’d rather wear a sport coat and beret? And look like someone who just left the VFW Hall?

If you think a younger mode of dress is necessary to attract younger men, maybe you should consider shorts and flipflops.

And Now?

I said earlier that there is something behind this. I think it is this: The regalia evokes the past, the Time Before the Changes. It must be eradicated.

I understand some priests don’t like it, won’t allow it at their Masses. Is that the problem? Was there pressure from above? From the clergy? Or the bishops? What do the Knights of Columbus chaplains say? Surely, they, of all people, should understand the meaning of the regalia. Did they have any input? What was it? The new uniform is a betrayal; acquiescence to it is cowardly. Stand up, Sir Knights!

Fight for the Honor of the Order!

Refuse the latitudinarianism of an apostate age. Remind the world of dignity, of respect, and the wear noble sign of masculine strength.

I’m remembering now the day this summer when the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was brought to Detroit. After Mass at Old St. Mary’s, there was a procession of the faithful through the downtown streets. All sorts of the faithful were there—a motley group, I admit, but all children of Mary. Behind the pilgrim statue—reminding us of Our Lady’s love—was the Archbishop himself. And then the Knights of the Color Corps in full regalia, swords at the ready, capes flowing, processing in honor of their Queen. So beautiful!

But will that beauty, too, soon fade into the past?