The Knights of Peter Claver, Inc. and Ladies Auxiliary is the largest and oldest-continually existent predominantly African-AmericanlayCatholic organization.
History
The organization was founded in 1909 by Josephite Father Conrad Friedrich Rebesher, a native of Kłodawa, Poland, who served as pastor of Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish. The seven charter members were Josephite priests: Father Conrad Friedrich Rebesher, Father Samuel Joseph Kelly, Father Joseph Peter Van Baast, and Father John Henry Dorsey, and laymen: Gilbert Faustina, Francis Xavier "Frank" Collins, and Francis "Frank" Trenier. The Order is named after St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit priest from Spain who ministered to African slaves in Cartagena, Colombia, South America, in the 17th century. Peter Claver is said to have converted over 300,000 slaves to Catholicism. The organization's model was based on other Catholic fraternal orders such as the Knights of Columbus. The Knights of Peter Claver is a member of the worldwide International Alliance of Catholic Knights. In 1922, a Ladies Auxiliary was formed to provide the same opportunities for Catholic action to African American lay women. The Auxiliary was officially recognized as a division of the Order in 1926. A program for Junior Knights existed from the Order's earliest days. The constitution of the Junior Knights Division was adopted in 1917 and the division formally recognized in 1935. The Junior Daughters division was officially recognized in 1930. The Sublimed and Meritorious Fourth Degree was organized in 1917. This division is open to Knights who after two years of continual membership have proven themselves to be active workers in the Church, the community, and the Noble Order. A similar Fourth Degree, the Ladies of Grace was established for members of the Ladies Auxiliary in 1979. Members of the Fourth Degree Knights are addressed as "Sir Knight," and members of the Fourth Degree Ladies of Grace are addressed as "Gracious Lady." The organization is active in the United States of America and South America. It has over 400 Councils and Courts throughout the U.S. and on San Andres Island in Colombia. For youths between the ages of 7 and 18 years old, the organization has Junior Councils and Junior Courts. The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary provides opportunities for all Catholics to be actively involved in their faith by living the Gospel message. The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary engages in a variety of church and community service projects. It supports charitable appeals of many national and international organizations such as the NAACP and the United Negro College Fund, Catholic elementary and secondary schools and Xavier University in New Orleans. In 2006, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops renewed a grant to the organization to continue the National Environmental Health and Justice Literacy Project, a program designed to educate citizens of poor communities about environmental health hazards. Recently, the organization has provided disaster relief support on several occasions and has adopted numerous social justice causes as its mantra. Most notably, the Junior Division are promoting clean water initiatives and sufficient housing for the world's underserved in addition to their efforts to eradicate diabetes in the black community.
Goals of the Knights
To support a local pastor, parish and bishop.
To become active, as a group, in a Knights respective community.
To instill civic pride & action.
To engage Knights in opportunities that will allow them to demonstrate their Catholicism.
To allow for social interaction by creating gatherings that might foster a sense of community.
The Peter Claver Building, a historic building in New Orleans, Louisiana served as national headquarters of the organization during 1951 to 1974, when a new, adjacent building was constructed.
