Monday, May 31, 2021

Pope Pius XI on the Knights of Columbus

Brother Knights,

We share an excellent quote from an encyclical published by Pope Pius XI on the persecution of the Church in Mexico in 1926 as mentioned in an Cristeros Martyrs article in the May edition of Columbia magazine (p. 14). His Holiness lauds the Knights for their efforts to support Mexican Catholics in resisting the masonic-communist regime in Mexico.

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"First of all We mention the Knights of Columbus, an organization which is found in all the states of the Republic and which fortunately is made up of active and industrious members who, because of their practical lives and open profession of the Faith, as well as by their zeal in assisting the Church, have brought great honor upon themselves.  

This organization promotes two types of activities which are needed now more than ever. In the first place, the National Sodality of Fathers of Families, the program of which is to give a Catholic education to their own children, to protect the rights of Christian parents with regard to education, and in cases where children attend the public schools to provide for them a sound and complete training in their religion. 

Secondly, the Federation for the Defense of Religious Liberty, which was recently organized when it became clear as the noonday sun that the Church was menaced by a veritable ocean of troubles. 

This Federation soon spread to all parts of the Republic. Its members attempted, working in harmony and with assiduity, to organize and instruct Catholics so that they would be able to present a united invincible front to the enemy." 

- Pope Pius XI,  Iniquis Afflictisque (On The Persecution of the Church in Mexico), November 18, 1926

https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_18111926_iniquis-afflictisque.html