{"id":2060,"date":"2013-01-20T23:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-20T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/mlk-was-christ-inspired-says-head-knight-of-peter-claver\/"},"modified":"2013-01-20T23:01:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-20T23:01:00","slug":"mlk-was-christ-inspired-says-head-knight-of-peter-claver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/01\/mlk-was-christ-inspired-says-head-knight-of-peter-claver\/","title":{"rendered":"MLK was Christ-inspired, says head Knight of Peter Claver"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Mobile, Ala., Jan 20, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Martin Luther King Day is a time to promote racial harmony in America and honor the slain civil rights leader who was \u201cinspired by the teachings of Christ,\u201d says the head of the Knights of Peter Claver.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cConsidering that so many 'church-going folks' were supporting segregation and Jim Crow laws during the civil rights movement, it is wonderful that King dedicated his life to employing Christ's teachings to resist and counter the very social sins of prejudice, racial discrimination and segregation,\u201d Supreme Knight F. DeKarlos Blackmon told CNA Jan. 18.<\/p>\n

\tHe said Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. a Baptist minister, was \u201ca man of faith and deep conviction\u201d who studied Catholic theology and was \u201cparticularly impressed\u201d with St. Augustine.<\/p>\n

\tKing\u2019s famous \u201cLetter from a Birmingham Jail\u201d cited St. Augustine's saying \u201cAn unjust law is no law at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tSince 2010, Blackmon has headed the Knights of Peter Claver, a New Orleans-based Catholic fraternal order present in about 39 states and in South America. It takes as its model the Spanish Jesuit priest St. Peter Claver, who ministered to slaves in Colombia in the 1600s. Its membership is significantly African-American but the order is open to all practicing Catholics without regard to race or ethnicity.<\/p>\n

\tThe organization was founded in Mobile, Ala. in 1909 by four priests of the Josephite Fathers and three Catholic laymen to serve African-Americans and other racial minorities. Its founders were concerned the Catholic Church would lose black individuals to fraternal and secular organizations, at a time when local racism kept many out of the Knights of Columbus.<\/p>\n

\tThe order has six divisions: the Ladies of Peter Claver, two separate junior divisions for young men and young women, the Fourth Degree Knights and the Fourth Degree Ladies of Grace.<\/p>\n

\tThe Knights of Peter Claver and the Ladies Auxiliary opposed segregation and worked to transform how communities and cities thought about race, equality and justice, Blackmon said. They worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League.
\n\t\u00a0
\n\tThe order's leadership and members were \u201cintimately involved\u201d in the civil rights movement. Civil rights attorney A.P. Tureaud, a national secretary and national advocate of the order, worked with future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to help overturn legal segregation.<\/p>\n

\tThe now demolished Claver Building in New Orleans, which was the Knights\u2019 headquarters from 1951 to 1974, hosted early meetings \u201cthat ultimately launched the civil rights movement,\u201d Blackmon added.<\/p>\n

\tToday, members of the order organize Martin Luther King Day activities like Masses of Unity, prayer services, days of unity, and programs commemorating King's vision in addition to their other charitable works.<\/p>\n

\tBlackmon said King challenged America \u201cto live out its creed that all men are created equal.\u201d He said the observance is an opportunity for American Catholics to remember King's life and work and to realize the challenge to work towards Jesus\u2019 prayer that the Catholic Church \u201cmay all be as one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tHe said African-American Catholics should use the day to remember those who have accomplished \u201csomething for the larger community and the greater good.\u201d He mentioned African-American Catholic bishops like the late New Orleans auxiliary Bishop Harold Perry and Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, former president of the U.S. bishops\u2019 conference.<\/p>\n

\tBlackmon praised the rise of African-Americans in professions like law, medicine, higher education and politics.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe have realized numerous African-American and Hispanic cabinet officials, legislators, and federal judges. We have realized a black president in the White House,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tHowever, he added, \u201cthere is still yet more to be effected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBy the grace of almighty God, by the arduous work of our hands, by the standing up to be a witness to the saving power of God, we will overcome prejudice, racism, intolerance, bias, narrow-mindedness, and chauvinism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tHe said Christians must be \u201cever mindful of our role in not only welcoming, but also embracing and helping \u2018the stranger\u2019 among us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Knights of Peter Claver aim to serve God and the Catholic Church. They assist the needy, the sick, and disabled, while developing their members through fellowship, recreational activities, scholarships, and charitable work. Their website is www.kofpc.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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