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Post by guillaume on Aug 1, 2009 15:05:29 GMT
Somebody knows ? A branch is installing in Wex, Is it worth it ?
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Post by Harris on Aug 2, 2009 10:52:00 GMT
I know very little about them if I'm honest, other than they were founded in the US and are named in honour of Christopher Columbus. I'm not sure becoming a member would bring me closer to God.
It would appear that charity is a high priority for the Knights of Columbus. However, my knowledge on the organisation is very limited.
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Post by hibernicus on Aug 3, 2009 10:31:39 GMT
I presume these are the Knights of COLUMBANUS - the Knights of Columbus are an American organisation. Americans have a long tradition of fraternal organisations, often ethnic in character, so the Knights of Columbus are fairly high-profile; apparently it is fairly routine for Knights there to turn up in uniform at Mass (uniform includes plumed hats) and ceremonially salute the Host at the Elevation. I've seen this myself a couple of times on visits to America. The Knights of Columbanus have a much lower profile and have a reputation for being more secretive. They are seen as a Catholic businessmen's and professional group doing charitable work. Back when the business community and professions in the Republic was divided along Catholic/Protestant lines, the Freemasons were seen as a Protestant-dominated old boys' club of wirepullers and job-hunters and the Knights were seen by critics as fulfilling the same function on the Catholic side.
Ezigbotutu has adopted the characteristically Protestant practice of taking a Biblical text out of context and reading it in isolation from the Bible as a whole. The bible does not condemn the practice of taking oaths per se, because it is essentially structured around a series of covenants - sworn agrements - between God and His people. Now if GOd swears and is bound by oaths, it follows that such sworn associations cannot be intrinsically wrong and Jesus' words must bear some other meaning - presumably a condemnation of rash and unnecessary oaths - just as His words about making oneself an eunuch for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven clearly refer to voluntary celibacy rather than (as some unfortunates have misinterpreted them from time to time) actual physical castration.
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Post by Beinidict Ó Niaidh on Aug 12, 2009 15:38:09 GMT
The Knights of St Columbanus are the equivalent to the Knights of Columbus in the US, the Knights of St Columba in Britain, the Knights of the Southern Cross in Australia/New Zealand. They were founded specifically to organisation Catholic tradesmen and business men in the face of widespread discrimination. Without going into conspiracy theories, membership of the Masons or, closer home, the Orange Order gave non-Catholic competitors the edge in getting jobs, winning contracts or getting business. The various orders of knights were set up to combat that and to allow for charitable endeavour. The Dublin Knights, for example, put on Christmas dinner for the homeless in Dublin every year.
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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Aug 13, 2009 13:34:17 GMT
The Knights of St Columbanus were once, like the Legion of Mary and the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart, a thriving lay apostolate in the fabled clerically dominated Catholic Ireland prior to the Second Vatican Council. Since then all three have gone into decline in this so-called moment of the laity. The one thriving lay apostolate is the Society of St Vincent de Paul - and many of the volunteers in this have lost their religious focus. It is but another sign of a Church in trouble.
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Post by Michael O'Donovan on Aug 13, 2009 23:26:10 GMT
Wexford? Who, when and where?
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Post by guillaume on Aug 14, 2009 7:36:56 GMT
Wexford? Who, when and where?[/quote Yes, Wexford. It is the aim of the Knights of Saint Columbanus to re-create a group in Wexford and others places. A meeting will be held in september. For more details just PM me.
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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Aug 17, 2009 8:21:34 GMT
Michael, No disrespect, but you don't have a clue. It is true to say that Columbus, Columba and Columbanus have one thing in common - that they are all derived somehow from the Latin for dove. But they are three different men. Every school kid knows that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, though we in Ireland reckon St Brendan the Navigator got to Newfoundland 900 years before. Columbus was a great, if reckless, navigator and his legacy is very clear. And he is no canonised saint - at least not yet. The other two - St Columba and St Columbanus - are two different Irish saints. St Columba, the patron of the British organisation, was an Irish prince, born in Gartan, Co Donegal in 521 with the name Crimthann mac Feilimid Ua Neill. As a schoolboy, he was known for his piety and nickname Colm Cille, the Irish from 'dove of the church' (the Latin looses half the Irish name). This is the name by which he became known as he founded 42 monasteries in Ireland by the time he reached the age of 42 and then he went to exile in Iona, setting the precedent followed by many Irish saints since of preaching the Gospel over seas. He died in 597. He is the third patron of Ireland and a secondary patron of Scotland and both the precious manuscripts the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow were undertaken in his foundations and in his honour. St Columbanus was born in Nobber, Co Meath in 540 and was known as Colm Ban or 'fair dove' because of his appearance. He brought missionaries of Burgundy, Switzerland and Northern Italy before his death in 615 and left a string of monasteries after him. He is the patron saint of the European Union. There are several other St Colmans named after these to saints, so it can get very confusing. All precede Christopher Columbus by centuries. The Knights of St Columbanus were founded in Belfast in 1915 by Canon O'Neill. These were inspired by Father Giveney's Knights of Columbus in America and are very similar, but it is a separate organisation. The Knights of St Columba were founded in Glasgow in 1919 for similar reasons. The Knights of the Southern Cross were founded in Sydney the same year and spread to New Zealand later. In South Africa, the Knights of Da Gama (same inspiration as the US name). The Knights of St Mulumba were founded in Nigeria in 1953. All these and more are member organisations of the International Association of Catholic Knights www.iack.org/. But Michael is right in one respect - all these do take their inspiration from Father Giveney and the Knights of Columbus.
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Post by hibernicus on Aug 17, 2009 10:38:31 GMT
Perhaps Michael is a Palmarian? They have canonised Columbus, and his pretensions and general level of knowledge appear well suited to that sect.
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Post by Beinidict Ó Niaidh on Aug 17, 2009 11:20:53 GMT
Interesting. Do is there a Palmarian Obedience Knights of Columbus?
Maybe Michael Cox or Pat Buckley should set up their own council of the Knights of St Columbanus?
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Post by Alaisdir Ua Séaghdha on Aug 24, 2009 10:37:30 GMT
Spiritual misunderstanding?
Yes - that's a good excuse. I'll leave the other listmembers to determine if this were so.
The various orders of knights have very different membership conditions too on practical terms - so what is available to the Knights of Columbus in the US may not be available to the Knights of St Columbanus here, and that I believe is what Guillaume was asking about.
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