Knights Provide Memorial of Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium
‘Monument Park’ plaque continues long history of collaboration with papacy.
Supreme Advocate Paul R. Devin, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, Deputy Supreme Knight Dennis Savoie and Supreme Secretary Donald R. Kehoe with the plaque commemorating the April 20 Mass.
Pope Benedict XVI will have a lasting memorial of his April 20 Mass at Yankee Stadium, courtesy of the Knights of Columbus. The New York ballpark will permanently commemorate the occasion with a bronze plaque, commissioned by the Catholic fraternal organization, which is based in nearby New Haven, Conn.
The 105-pound plaque, which is 39.5 inches tall and 27 inches wide, will be located in Monument Park, along with plaques memorializing Masses celebrated there by Pope Paul VI (Oct. 4, 1965) and Pope John Paul II (Oct. 2, 1979). All three plaques were crafted by United States Bronze, of New Hyde Park, N.Y., and are gifts of the Knights of Columbus.
The pope’s Mass marked the 200th anniversary of the Archdiocese of New York, which was established as a diocese (along with the archdioceses of Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville) on April 8, 1808, by Pope Pius VII.
The event included Pope Benedict’s six-day trip to the United States, which also included visits to the White House and a Mass at Nationals Stadium in Washington, D.C., and an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The Knights of Columbus have enjoyed a close relationship with the papacy and for much of its 126-year history and has provided regular support and assistance to the Vatican and papal initiatives.
Among such significant historical events, a Knights of Columbus delegation in 1920 was granted an audience with Pope Benedict XV. Later, in response to a request from Pope Benedict, the Knights established five recreation centers for youth in Rome from 1924-1927.
In 1985, the organization presented a mobile television production unit to Vatican Television for broadcasting papal ceremonies. Later that year, the K of C agreed to underwrite the restoration of the 65,000-square-foot façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Several subsequent projects have taken place at St. Peter’s, including the creation or restoration of chapels within the basilica’s grottoes.
The Knights of Columbus, together with the Diocese of Brooklyn, cosponsored Pope John Paul II’s Mass at the Aqueduct race track during his 1995 visit to the United States. Through its “Vicarius Christi” fund the Knights of Columbus makes an annual contribution to the pope in support of his charitable initiatives. Cumulative contributions from this fund exceed $41 million.
In 1953, the Knights of Columbus acquired the nine acres upon which Yankee Stadium is built. It was sold to the city of New York upon the stadium’s refurbishment in the 1970s. New York Gov. (and presidential candidate) Al Smith, a Knight of Columbus, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium’s inaugural game, April 18, 1923. Yankee slugger and Hall of Famer Babe Ruth was a Knight of Columbus. Retied Yankee Ron Guidry is also a Knight. Both players’ numbers (Ruth’s #3 and Guidry’s #49) have been retired and are a part of the Monument Park display, which will be relocated to the new stadium upon its completion.
Supreme Knight, Board Urge Support for 'Bella'
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson, with the backing of the Order’s Board of Directors, is recommending that Knights support Bella, a major motion picture to be released this summer.
Bella, whose star and producers are Knights, won the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award.
“If we can get millions of people to see this film, we are going to save lives,” Anderson said. “We can get people to understand what we mean when we talk about a culture of life, or what it means to live a Catholic life. Our support of this movie can be the start of something great.”
Knights Sponsor St. Joan of Arc Exhibit
The Knights of Columbus is the principal sponsor of an exhibit featuring the French medieval heroine and saint, Joan of Arc, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
The exhibition explores the many ways in which the life of one of the most revered public figures of the Middle Ages has been viewed by her contemporaries and by succeeding generations in Europe and the United States.
Joan of Arc was a 19-year-old girl of common birth and no formal education who, acting on claims of divine inspiration, sought and received permission to lead France’s army against a siege attempt by England in the early 1400s.
Though her successful efforts led to the coronation of Charles VII, and settled a disputed succession to the throne, she was ultimately captured by her enemies, tried and executed under a false conviction of heresy. Joan was later exonerated and, ultimately, canonized by the Catholic Church in recognition of her life of virtue and holiness.
Throughout the last 500 years, the memory and image of Joan of Arc have been used periodically to promote various patriotic and religious ideals. The exhibit examines these uses and her legacy in her homeland as well as in the United States.
In sponsoring the exhibit, which runs at the Corcoran Gallery from Nov. 18 to Jan. 21, the Knights of Columbus pays tribute to Joan’s enduring appeal, both as a woman and as a saint of the Catholic Church. The Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Conn., will also host a significant portion of the exhibit from May 1 to Sept. 3.
“Joan of Arc epitomizes the qualities of patriotism and piety,” said Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson. “Fidelity to both Church and state is often viewed in our era as contradictory or even duplicitous. Joan of Arc showed that a person can have uncompromising loyalty to national interests as well as to the tenets of one’s faith, traits which the Knights of Columbus has sought to uphold throughout its 125-year history.”
The exhibit’s co-curators are art historian Laura Coyle and Nora Heimann, an associate professor of art history and head of the Art Department at The Catholic University of America. Both have traveled extensively in preparing the show and have co-authored an accompanying publication, Joan of Arc: Her Image in France and America.
Knight is Mission Specialist on 11-Day Flight of Space Shuttle Atlantis
Commander Daniel C. Burbank, 45, a 25-year member of Edmund P. Perkins Council 6626 in Tolland, Conn., is serving as af Flight specialist on the current Space Shuttle Atlantis mission, STS-115, which is making improvements to the International Space Station.
The six-member space shuttle crew is installing a second set of solar arrays, weighing 17.5 tons, on the space station, which double the station’s ability to generate power from sunlight. The 11-day mission has been in planning and training four years. Commander Burbank was a member of a two-man team that made a space walk Wednesday, Sept. 13, to activate the newly installed equipment to the space station.
Commander Burbank graduated from Tolland (Conn.) High School and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He received a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
This is his second mission aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. During a 12-day mission, STS-106, in September, 2000, Commander Burbank prepared the International Space Station for its first permanent crew.
Commander Burbank’s father, Dan, is also a past grand knight of Council 6626.
In the August Issue of Columbia
In an interview with Columbia editors, Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson looks back at the last five years of his administration and outlines where the Order is headed in the future. Plus: A special series on Knights and vocations, “Keeping the Faith Alive.”
