A Lasting Legacy

April 1, 2020

As supreme knight for nearly a quarter century, Virgil Dechant helped to shape the Order’s future in ways large and small. Here are some of his most significant accomplishments.

By Cecilia Hadley and Andrew Fowler

April 1, 2020

Mother Teresa responds with an appreciative smile to Past Supreme Knight Virgil C. Dechant’s presentation to her of the Gaudium et Spes Award. Citation Remarks Response — Supreme Knight Dechant presents the first Gaudium et Spes Award to Mother Teresa of Calcutta at the 110th Supreme Convention in New York City, Aug. 4, 1992. (Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archives)

GROWING THE ORDER

K of C insurance and membership boomed under Dechant’s leadership. Drawing on his business and sales experience, Dechant inaugurated a new era in Knights of Columbus Insurance even before he became supreme knight, modernizing business practices and creating a professional field force. Insurance in force reached $3 billion in 1975 and stood at nearly $40 billion when he retired in 2000. Meanwhile, membership increased from 1.23 million to 1.62 million, and the number of councils nearly doubled, from about 6,000 to 11,644.

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES AND PARISHES

At every stage of his K of C career, Dechant found ways to involve his wife in council events and encouraged other Knights to do the same. Integrating families into the Order’s activities was a shift, but one he believed was consistent with the founder’s vision.

“Everything was designed for the benefit of the family,” Dechant said in his first annual report as supreme knight. “Is there any doubt about Father McGivney’s intent? It seems to me that the time is ripe to bring about the full realization of his dream.” This mindset continues today with family-oriented Faith in Action programs and other initiatives to strengthen the domestic church.

Dechant also encouraged Knights to develop closer ties to their parishes, promoting the formation of parish-based councils.

LOVE FOR OUR LADY

Dechant began his administration as supreme knight with a visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, placing his work under the Virgin Mary’s protection. He also fostered Marian devotion by initiating two K of C traditions. In 1978, at the urging of his father, he made sure that all new Knights received a rosary blessed by the supreme chaplain. The next year, he started the Marian Hour of Prayer (now called the Marian Prayer Program), in which blessed images of Our Lady circulate among councils around the world. “Loving devotion to Mary,” he wrote, “is truly one of the marks of the Knights of Columbus.”

Virgil Dechant marches with athletes at the opening ceremony of the 1987 Special Olympics World Games, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. (Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archives)

FRIEND OF SAINTS

Dechant’s tenure as supreme knight corresponded closely to the years of St. John Paul II’s papacy. Over 23 years, he and the pope met more than 70 times, developing a close rapport.

Visiting Rome for the World Congress of Vocations in 1981, Dechant was in St. Peter’s Square on May 13 when John Paul II was shot. Dechant and his wife, Ann, visited the Holy Father a few months later at Castel Gandolfo and presented him with the first proceeds of the Vicarius Christi Fund for his personal charities.

Dechant also became close with St. Teresa of Calcutta. The Knights of Columbus began to sponsor much of the Missionaries of Charity’s printing in the U.S., and once offered her a monthly stipend to support her work with the poorest of the poor. She declined, asking instead, “Send me your members and families instead to work in my soup kitchens.” She did accept the Order’s inaugural Gaudium et Spes Award in 1992.

PROMOTION OF VOCATIONS

Dechant had a special love for the priesthood, formed by his family and his years in minor seminary at the Pontifical College Josephinum. In his first speech after being elected, he encouraged all Knights to pray for and foster vocations in their families. “If new vocations are to come from our young,” he said, “they must be stimulated and nourished in the atmosphere of our homes.”

Under his leadership, the Order launched several scholarship funds for seminarians and priests, including the Refund Support Vocations Program (RSVP) in 1981, through which councils assist seminarians and others in religious formation. When Dechant received the Gaudium et Spes Award in 2012, he announced that he would donate the award’s honorarium to K of C seminarian scholarship funds.

FATHER MCGIVNEY’S CHAMPION

In his farewell address, Supreme Knight Dechant told delegates to the Supreme Convention, “There is one thing particularly that is close to my heart, and that is the cause of our founder.” Research to support the cause for Father Michael McGivney’s canonization began in the early years of his tenure, and he oversaw the re-internment of Father McGivney’s remains at St. Mary’s Church during the Order’s centenary celebrations in 1982. The research process continued, and the Archdiocese of Hartford officially opened the cause for canonization in 1997.

President Ronald Reagan speaks to pro-life leaders, including Supreme Knight Dechant (left) at the Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., July 30, 1987. Carl Anderson (second from left) was then acting director of the White House’s Office of Public Liaison. (Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archives)

VATICAN SUPPORT

Dechant fortified the Order’s strong ties with the Vatican, which led to many collaborative projects and opportunities to serve the Church. In 1975, the Knights of Columbus began supporting Vatican satellite broadcasts, making it possible for Catholics around the world to watch papal Masses and other Vatican events.

In the following decades, the Order funded historic restoration work, including repairing and cleaning the 65,000- square-foot façade of St. Peter’s Basilica in 1985, and restoring the basilica’s Moderno Atrium and Holy Door in time for pilgrims to walk through during the Jubilee Year in 2000.

The Vatican’s relationship with the Order also facilitated closer ties with the United States. When President Ronald Reagan attended the 100th Supreme Convention in 1982, he met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Agostino Casaroli. Among the issues they discussed was diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Holy See, which were established less than two years later.

A NEW CULTURE OF LIFE

Under Dechant’s leadership, the Knights of Columbus responded to widespread challenges to the sanctity of human life by increasing support for numerous pro-life initiatives — including pregnancy resource centers, the March for Life Education and Defense Fund and the pro-life offices of the U.S. and Canadian bishops.

“Without the Knights of Columbus, there might not be a pro-life movement today,” Cardinal John O’Connor, then-archbishop of New York, told Knights at the Supreme Convention in 1990.

The Order likewise promoted the Church’s vision for marriage and family in various ways, such as by sponsoring natural family planning education and by establishing a North American campus of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., in 1988.

*****

CECILIA HADLEY is senior editor of Columbia. ANDREW FOWLER is a content producer for the Knights of Columbus Communications Department and a member of Christ the Redeemer Council 15870 in Milford, Conn.

A Holy Names sister instructs students at St. Mary’s Academy & College in Portland, Ore., circa 1915.

A Lasting Legacy

GROWING THE ORDER

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES AND PARISHES

LOVE FOR OUR LADY

FRIEND OF SAINTS

PROMOTION OF VOCATIONS

FATHER MCGIVNEY’S CHAMPION

VATICAN SUPPORT

A NEW CULTURE OF LIFE

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