On July 16, Supreme Secretary Charles E. Maurer drew the winners of the Order’s membership and programs incentiveinitiated in honor of Pope Francis. Through this incentive, councils were rewarded for recruiting new members into the Order and conducting service outreach programs between April 1 and June 30. The winning grand knights and their wives along with membership directors and their wives (for the membership portion of the incentive) and program directors and their wives (for the programs portion) will receive all expense paid trips to Italy that include tours of Rome and Assisi.

For the membership portion of the incentive, the winners selected were St. Jerome Council 13005 in Waco, Texas, and All Saints Council 4872 in Taylor, Mich. St. Jerome Council, which recruited eight new members, will be represented by Carl London and Nicholas Davoust along with their wives. All Saints Council, which recruited 13 new members, will be represented by Albert Broome and Patrick Dingman along with their wives.

For the programs portion, the winners selected were Fr. Gerald MacKenzie Council 8608 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and Grande Ronde Valley Council 9442 in La Grande, Ore. Fr. MacKenzie Council, which conducted a Respect for Women March to stop violence against women and created a prayer card promoting their parish and council, will be represented by Wayne MacGillivary and Fred Dobson along with their wives. Grande Ronde Valley Council, which staffed a Knights Helpline for parishioners to call with requests for assistance and brought the Holy Eucharist to those unable to attend Mass, will be represented by Edwin Baird and Patrick Smith along with their wives.