Cost: Free

The Knights of Columbus will be honoring the Catholic men who first brought the Knights to Fort Wayne/ Northeast Indiana in the late 1800’s. On October 15, 1899, the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council issued a Charter for Council 451 in the city of Fort Wayne. The Charter lists 36 men, and the Council was the second formed in the state of Indiana. In honor of almost 120 years of continuous service to the K of C principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism — a genealogy research team was formed to learned about the lives and deeds of these Catholic men. Since 29 of the 36 Knights listed on the Council 451 Charter are buried in Fort Wayne’s Catholic Cemetery, it was decided to have a prayer service at the Breen-Phillips Altar in the Catholic Cemetery on Sunday, Oct. 28. Bishop Kevin Rhoades will join the Knights of Columbus to recognize and honor these pioneer Knights with prayer at 10:30 a.m., followed immediately by optional graveside visits. A brief reception at the Divine Mercy Funeral Home in the cemetery between 11:15 a.m. and noon will conclude the event. The Knights of Columbus’ Genealogy Team has also produced a book containing one page Biographical sketches of each of these 36 men, and a limited number of these books will be available for purchase during the reception.
The Fort Wayne Catholic community is cordially invited to attend this free event. For further information, contact Steve Lutz, (260) 341-7556.