Knights of St Columba

The Knights of Saint Columba (KSC, German: Knights of Saint Columbanus ) are a brotherhood in the Roman Catholic Church. They are the largest chivalric Brotherhood in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and it was founded in 1919 in Glasgow. The KSC is a member of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights.

History

The Knights of Saint Columba was founded on October 5, 1919 by Patrick Joseph O'Callaghan, an Irish immigrant from Cork ( Ireland ). At the founding meeting was attended by 24 Catholic men, they gave themselves the name: Brotherhood - Knights of St Columba. As a model and example they took over the construction criteria of the United in the States in 1882, founded the Brotherhood " Knights of Columbus ". The Brotherhood was suspected as a secret society, since in its gatherings only allowed members to participate. The receiving ceremony always takes place in conjunction with the celebration of Holy Mass and is performed in a Catholic church.

Motivation

The founding idea of a desire to create a community in which the principles of charity, unity and fraternity should be primary. The members wanted to lay the foundations for social, economic and spiritual welfare, while protecting the Catholic faith, its principles and the interests of the Church. The Brotherhood supports social projects and helps materially and financially in serious accidents or disasters in the UK.

Organization

The organization is a non-political, neutral and democratically oriented, church- oriented institution, which receives only men in its ranks. The persons aged at least 16 years. The Brotherhood is divided into three levels of management:

• Local groups, it is run by a large knight,
• Provinces, it is a provincial knight before, and
• The " Supreme Council ," the president is the " Supreme Knight" ( Supreme Knight).

The provinces are aligned with the boundaries of the Catholic dioceses in the UK the usual way. The " Supreme Council " is based in Glasgow and conducts an annual AGM. This supreme body and the "Supreme Knight", as well as the management of the local groups and provinces, elected for a period of three years. According to the company KSC has over 8000 members in 340 local groups.