At a private meeting on Dec. 12, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus presented Pope Francis with $1.6 million for his charities.
Pope Francis received Supreme Knight Carl Anderson in a private audience at the Vatican on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It was the third such audience granted by Pope Francis to Anderson.
During the course of the meeting, Anderson spoke with the Holy Father about the Order’s many activities.
The Supreme Knight presented the Holy Father with a contribution of $1.6 million from the Vicarius Christi Fund, for the Pope’s personal charities. They also discussed the Knights of Columbus Christian Refugee Relief Fund and the Supreme Knight provided a contribution of $400,000 from that Fund to supplement the relief efforts of the Holy See in the Middle East.
The Supreme Knight was also present at the special Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. At the conclusion of the Papal Mass, Msgr. Eduardo Chavez, postulator of the cause of St. Juan Diego, and co-author with the Supreme Knight of a book on Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Canon of the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and brother Knight, presented the Holy Father with a silver rose.
Over the past few months, this silver rose was hand-carried by Knights of Columbus from Canada, through the United States, to Mexico City as a symbol of unity in the continent of America. For more than 50 years, the Order has sponsored the Our Lady of Guadalupe Silver Rose Program to honor the Blessed Virgin under her title of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of America.
In 2001, Supreme Knight Anderson dedicated the Order to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Since that time, the Order has organized and supported numerous spiritual initiatives and academic conferences to promote devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe.
