125 Years in Review – 1930s

More than 5 million copies of various pamphlets with eyewitness reports on Church persecution in Mexico are printed and distributed by the Order.

In 1934-35, the Order drafts a resolution for the U.S. Senate calling for an investigation into the persecution; it is defeated.

On July 8, 1935, Supreme Knight Carmody and other K of C officials meet with President Franklin D. Roosevelt about the situation in Mexico. By mid-1937, tensions ease between the Mexican government and the Church.

The 50th anniversary of the Knights is celebrated with Commemoration Week, June 24-30, 1932. Among the highlights is the unveiling in Washington, D.C. of a statue of Cardinal James Gibbons, an early supporter of the Knights who had also ordained Father McGivney.

More than 400 councils stage a one-act play on the founding of the Knights during Commemoration Week.

In January 1936, the “Five-Point Program of Progress” is launched. Its aim is to provide councils with a framework for their activities. The five categories are: Catholic Activity, Council Activity, Fraternal Protection, Publicity and Maintenance of Manpower.

In response to Pope Pius XII’s petition for prayers for peace, the Knights of Columbus sponsors an international prayer-for-peace program on Armistice Day, 1939.  Canadian Knights establish a welfare program for soldiers comparable to the KC huts program that operated during World War I.

On Sept. 13, 1939, less than two weeks after war was declared, Canadian Knights establish a welfare program for soldiers comparable to the KC huts program that operated during World War I.