About 100 Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus from across the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland turned out for the 4:30 p.m. Mass on June 29 at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist decked out in their full ceremonial regalia. They lined up along Superior Avenue and processed onto East Ninth Street, up the cathedral steps and into the church.
After posting the colors near the altar, the Knights formed an honor guard for Bishop Nelson Perez, concelebrant Father Frank Basa, senior parochial vicar at St. Bernard Parish in Akron, and Deacon John Sferry as they processed up the main aisle to the altar. The Knights then filed silently into the pews.
The black capes with different color lining (representing the Knight’s rank), plumed black chapeau (ceremonial hat) and formal tuxedo-style suit with white shirt and black bow tie will no longer be worn by Knights. The regalia was retired on June 30 and a new ceremonial dress uniform was initiated for Fourth Degree Knights. The attire was worn by thousands of Knights for parades, ecclesiastical and liturgical celebrations and other special occasions since 1900, with some changes over the years, but it has remained essentially the same since 1940.
The new uniform consists of dark gray trousers, a white shirt, Knights of Columbus tie, navy blue blazer with special buttons and a knights’ emblem and a beret-style black hat with an emblem depicting the Knight’s rank or position. Knights also will wear a white sash trimmed in red and blue.
The ceremonial sword and white gloves will be used for formal occasions.
“Change is difficult,” Bishop Perez told his brother knights.
He said the Knights of Columbus -- founded in 1881 in New Haven, Connecticut -- is the largest fraternal organization in the Catholic Church with about 2 million members in 17 countries. Father Michael McGivney founded the Knights as a fraternal benefit society. The Vatican is investigating his cause for sainthood. He died in 1890.
“Change happens in our lives whether we want it or not,” he said, explaining that for a priest like himself, it can mean changing assignments in the diocese. For the Knights, it’s retiring much-revered attire that has identified the knights for nearly a century.
Bishop Perez said it can be difficult to leave a parish where the priest has formed relationships. “But I pledged obedience when I said ‘yes’ in May 1989,” he said, referring to his ordination and the promise to obey the bishop and his successors. For Bishop Perez, that has meant serving as a parochial vicar and pastor at several parishes in Philadelphia before his call to be an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, and now the bishop of Cleveland.
He said one Knight who was upset about the uniform change told him that he will leave the organization in July when the new uniform policy takes effect.
“I told him to reflect on what it is that caused him to join in the first place,” he said, referring to the good work the Knights do to help others and to be advocates for the Catholic faith.
At one time, the bishop said, we all were enclosed in our mother’s womb, where everything was provided – nourishment, temperature control, etc. “Who’d want to leave that?” he asked.
“But a moment came and -- like it or not -- you had to leave that place. If you didn’t, you’d die. It’s not easy being born, but it’s necessary. There will come a time when we all will have to leave this behind and then we’ll understand how incredible the next life will be -- with God at the center.”
The decision to change uniforms for the Fourth Degree Knights was made at the international level after about two years of discussion and input. The organization’s leadership listed aging membership among Fourth Degree Knights, slow growth and consistent reports that the regalia were seen as a barrier to younger men joining.
The new uniform was unveiled in 2017 at the organization’s supreme convention in St. Louis, Missouri.
