Some Knights of Columbus aren't happy about changes to color guard uniforms

In a August, 2012 file photo, a Knights of Columbus color guard from New Haven, Conn, is shown at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

PITTSTON, Pa. (Tribune News Service) — The colorful capes, plumed chapeaus and black tuxedos of the Knights of Columbus color guard have been replaced with much more demure attire, and some local knights aren’t happy.

“I myself am opposed to it. Probably one of the most recognizable uniforms worldwide is the Knights of Columbus regalia,” said Rick Korpusik, Knights of Columbus faithful navigator for the President John F. Kennedy Assembly 948 in Pittston.

“If you see the cape, the hat and the sword, you know who we are,” said the 71-year-old Korpusik, a Pittston resident and a knight for more than 25 years.

But as of July 1, Knights of Columbus color corps members are only allowed to wear the new uniform at official functions, according to an edict from the organization’s national board.

The new uniform consists of a dark blue blazer with a Knights of Columbus emblem on the left breast pocket, dark gray trousers, a blue fourth degree necktie and a black beret with a gold fourth degree emblem.

Corps members will be allowed to continue carrying their swords.

Local knights fear the organization will lose its recognizability and part of its identity.

“If they have to change their uniforms, the color corps as we know it now will cease to exist,” said David Yonki, chairman of the assembly’s family committee.

“Nothing was put to us for input,” said Fran Ankenbrand, a past faithful navigator and current trustee for Assembly 948.

The men are members of the assembly’s Fourth Degree, the highest of four levels of membership in the fraternal Catholic service organization established in 1882 by the Rev. Michael J. McGivney, then a 29-year-old assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut.

Only members of the Fourth Degree can be in the color corps, and only color corps members had been authorized to wear the colorful regalia at official functions such as church services, funerals and parades.

The men point to the $510 cost of the new uniform and worry they will be misidentified as active military service members, cadets or veterans in parades and other functions, given the beret.

Korpusik said the feathered hats, called plumed chapeaus, and capes of retired members could be and have been donated back to the council for reuse by new members to help make membership more affordable.

“And ours is not the only assembly against the new regalia,” Korpusik said. “I’ve talked with faithful navigators all the way down to Malvern and Philadelphia and no one I talked to was in favor of it.”

The men also question the decision-making process, saying they heard 27 of the 29 members of the national Supreme Council abstained from a vote to change the uniforms.

Joseph Cullen, spokesman for the national leadership, said the local knights’ portrayal of the vote “is not accurate. The resolution to change the uniform was passed by the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors by a 26-0 vote. Also, such a vote would require a quorum.”

Cullen also took issue with the assertion that inadequate input was gathered on the issue.

“For years, supreme officers and directors have received comments from members and prospective members that the old regalia was a barrier either to membership in general or to membership in the Fourth Degree,” Cullen said.

He said reports that young Catholic men said they would not join the color corps if they had to wear the old regalia were accurate.

“The new regalia was field tested and debuted in the spring of 2017 during a major pilgrimage to Lourdes in France, which was covered extensively on our media platforms months before the vote by the board of directors,” Cullen said.

As for the knights losing their identity, Cullen said that “might have some validity” if the Rev. McGivney “designed a particular uniform and asked that it be used in perpetuity,” but he did not.

“The uniform of the fourth degree was adopted in 1900, 10 years after Father McGivney’s death. Since 1940, the changes have only been slight,” Cullen said.

Cullen said national leaders are aware some members would prefer to continue with the old uniform. “However, this is the first time I have heard anyone say that the new regalia could be confused with that of an active-duty military unit or that our members could be mistaken for students at a military academy,” he said.

A June 5 memo from national Supreme Master Dennis Stoddard warns wearing old regalia to official functions would result in a written warning. Subsequent violations could result in suspension of membership.

Korpusik said he has no intention of refusing requests from families of deceased Fourth Degree members to wear the old regalia at funerals or requests from priests or others that color corps members wear the old regalia to services and functions.

“If I go to church for a confirmation in a uniform everyone wants to see and they say, ‘You can’t wear that,’ what are they going to do? Take me out?” Korpusik said.

But not all local knights support such dissension.

The Rev. Phillip Sladicka, pastor of Queen of the Apostles Parish in Avoca, dean of the Diocese of Scranton’s Pittston Deanery and a member of the Knights of Columbus himself, said he hasn’t heard opposition to the uniform change from parishioners or other priests.

Sladicka noted most priests no longer wear cassocks in public and many nuns no longer wear habits.

“Many things are changing. Somebody is making those decisions and the decisions are thoughtful,” he said. “I don’t think we ought to get caught up in that.”

Sladicka, Korpusik, Ankenbrand and Yonki all agree that charitable service is the most important aspect of being one of the Knights of Columbus.

Korpusik noted Council 372 in Pittston hosted an The Knights of Columbus International Bowling Association Tournament earlier this year, raising over $4,000 that was split between the nine churches in the council’s territory, Meals on Wheels and the Care & Concern Free Clinic.

The Knights Women’s Association recently completed a free backpack project for children returning to school

Sladicka said it’s the charitable work of the knights that gives the organization its identity, and at church services and functions, “the important thing is their presence.”

smocarsky@citizensvoice.com

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