Supreme Master

Michael McCusker

 suprememaster@kofc.org

Supporting our Country, Community, and Church

 With Respect and Honor

Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree

January 2025

Supreme Master's Message

As January unfolds, there is much to look forward to this year, but first, I need to take a backward glance, which I had the opportunity to do at the beginning of the month when I reviewed the membership reports. The Fourth Degree only succeeds because of great leadership in the field. Without dedicated leaders on the state level, the Fourth Degree cannot build for our next 125 years. In particular, I am very proud of the following District Masters, who at midpoint of the fraternal year, have already exceeded 50% of their annual growth goal:

.....................Reynald Guadalupe (Philippines 20) 113%

.........................Adolfo Buquia (Philippines 12) 95%

....................Eleunesto Dumagan (Philippines 18) 84%

.........................Giovani Hyppolite (Texas 5) 56%

..............................Blake Krass (Texas 6) 56%

.............................Arnie Terrell (Georgia) 55%

Please join me in congratulating these outstanding leaders!

It’s hard to believe that it is now only a month until the 125th Anniversary of the Fourth Degree at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City! As of today, more than 1,000 banquet tickets have been sold, and we are closing in on 500 registered candidates. In other words, we are exactly at the same number of Brother Knights who gathered on February 22, 1900, at the birth of the Fourth Degree in New York City! I expect by the time sales close our attendance will have exceeded that of 1900! Thank you to all the dedicated leaders who have promoted this historic occasion!

Following the anniversary, the next big moment in the history of the Fourth Degree will be the publication of the Revised Exemplification of Patriotism, which will be available to all districts beginning February 23, 2025. Now is the time to keep the momentum going by turning your attention to hosting anniversary celebrations in your own districts by participating in the 125 for 125 Challenge, where each district is challenged to conduct a single exemplification with either a class of 125 candidates or a class equal to 125% of your annual intake goal! I know you can do it, and I already know that several of the Worthy District Masters named above are presently planning their 125 for 125! Together, let’s strive to have a memorable anniversary year by laying the foundation for our next 125 years of serving as the visible arm of the Knights of Columbus!

Vivat Jesus!

Using Honor Guards for Membership Growth in the Fourth Degree

As we enter a new stage of the Fourth Degree with our new Exemplification debuting next month and the many changes that have been implemented with many more to come, it is time we rethink how we approach membership.

Start by reaching out to each of the Grand Knights of the Councils that make up your Assembly and secure a list of upcoming Exemplifications of Charity, Unity, and Fraternity (CUF) that the Council has scheduled. Then ask when they have Corporate Communions scheduled. If they are not on the same day, ask the Grand Knight to consider doing both together at an upcoming Mass in their parish.

Offer to field an Honor Guard for the Corporate Communion and to stay after Mass to support our new brother Knights as they go through the Exemplification. This gives the new members a full house of observers for their CUF Exemplification.

Have ready a list of programs that your Assembly performs (from memory is best), and when the next Fourth Degree Exemplification is planned. Ask the Grand Knight for 1 minute to speak to the new members at the end of the Exemplification.

Have an information form printed for each of the new members with all the above information including your contact number and email address listed. Distribute these after the Exemplification.

Follow up with these new members later to secure their Form 4’s.

Practice with your Honor Guard members prior to the Corporate Communion so you can show the candidates what they can participate in once becoming a Fourth-Degree member.

Remember all our Exemplifications from now on will take place in either our local Cathedral or Parish church. We are to show all parishioners what we commit to as members of Knights of Columbus, the commitment to our faith, the support of our clergy, the love of our country and those who served.

If you have any other questions on training your members, please email me at

MJPKNIGHT9282@aol.com.

Fraternally,

Michael J. Porter

PSD,FM,FVSM

4th Degree Director of Training 

Bishop Flaget Assembly #307 of Northern Kentucky held their First Annual Veterans Appreciation Social on November 9th at Fr. Bealer Council Hall. All veterans and family members of the Northern Kentucky Knights of Columbus Councils, past and present, who faithfully served our nation were invited to join this event. The social featured three guest speakers, including keynote speaker Retired U.S. Army Colonel Paul Kremer of Council 15211.

Veterans were invited to bring display items of their military service, and they brought plenty. The money was raised through donations and spilt-the-pot raffle tickets sales will be presented to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA on behalf of Bishop Flaget Assembly. The event was held as an opportunity to honor our veterans and promote the Patriotic Degree.

Membership Musings

The calendar has flipped the page to the new year, and we are officially halfway through the fraternal year. How is your Assembly doing? Have you recruited a new member yet? If not, why not? How have you helped your District Master and your Province with their membership goal so far?

There are many different answers that swirl around these questions. Fear of rejection is the number one reason given on why we don’t ask for men to join. I think you would be missing the easiest ask if this was your reason. A Third-Degree member has already said yes to being a Knight of Columbus. The ask wouldn’t be to join the Degree, but to complete his Knighthood. I feel that if I stayed a Second or Third-Degree Knight, I would feel incomplete. Let’s take the fear of rejection and turn it on its head the remainder of the year.

To top it off, you have a new Exemplification for icing on the cake. Let’s get those Knights that

are not fully knighted into the Fourth Degree. Let’s build the interest by telling them how, for the first time ever, they will take their exemplification, including the Fourth Degree oath, in the presence of their family and friends!

As for the Province leaders at the turn of the year, here are your top 10 across the Order by percentage

(highest first):

Province...............................Percent to Goal

Our Lady of Guadalupe................37.17%

Fr. Edward Sorin CSC..................27.62%

St Junipero Serra.........................27.18%

DeSoto.........................................26.06%

Hennepin......................................25.09%

Bienville........................................24.79%

Marquette.....................................23.37%

Bishop James A Healy..................22.81%

Simon Fraser................................22.73%

Calvert..........................................20.87%

Bret Ladenburger, PSD

4th Degree Director of Membership

Father McGivney Military Chaplain Scholarship

The Knights of Columbus Father McGivney Military Chaplains Scholarship program was established in 2011 to help fund the education of seminarians preparing to become Catholic chaplains in the U.S. Armed Forces.

There are around 1.8 million Catholics served by the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), worldwide. The Archdiocese has barely a third of the number of chaplains needed to meet the needs of those Catholic men and women. AMS created the "Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program" to recruit priestly vocations for the benefit of the armed forces. The Military Archdiocese contracts with participating dioceses and religious orders to fund 50 percent of the cost of a seminarian's five-year education. The seminarian agrees that following Ordination and three years of service at a parish, he will commit to serve as a military chaplain under the auspices of the Military Archdiocese for a minimum of three to five years. 

While the number of seminarians has increased because of the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program, the program initially placed a huge burden on the Archdiocese, which receives no financial assistance from the military nor government.

Through this scholarship, the Order hopes to ensure the future development of the Co-Sponsored Seminarian Program, and to increase the number of Catholic chaplains to serve the Catholic men and women in uniform today. The Archdiocese of Military Services USA continues to recruit your men to serve as military chaplains at great cost; and our Order-wide fundraising projects help to support the program, which is led by Fourth-Degree members, the Patriotic Degree of the Knights.

Please read the article from “West Point to the Priesthood” by Susan Klemond a freelance writer for National Catholic Register. Here’s the ARTICLE.

Supreme Master Michael McCusker would like to see a concentrated effort on this program during the winter and spring months. Assemblies need to inform members that their Assembly supports the Father McGivney Chaplain Scholarship program, and those Councils and Assemblies that have Pennies for Heaven Funds may also want to participate in this program. Assemblies should also inform local Councils on the need to make sure our service men and women have a Catholic priest available for them during their service.

These funds will help produce a new generation of much-needed Catholic chaplains to minister to U.S. military personnel and their families. For inquiries and donations for the Military Chaplin Program, please see below.

If you need to reach the Office of Charitable Giving regarding this donation page or donating, you can do so Monday through Friday between the hours of 8:00am to 4:30pm Eastern:

Phone:1-800-694-5713

Email: info@kofccharities.org

Ron Boyce, PSD

4th Degree Director of Programs

503-730-1986

Bienville Province held its annual meeting in Madison, Mississippi and installed its five new District Masters.  

My brother Sir Knights, Happy New Year!

Message from Director of New Assembly Development

As we are near the halfway point of our fraternal year, here is a snapshot of where we are with respect to new Assemblies to date.

We have had Board approval of 20 new Assemblies, with 8 waiting for their approval. At this point there are a few more that have submitted their paperwork for presentation to our Supreme Master, plus I just sent 2 more packets out for potential new Assemblies.

After chatting with several VSMs, there appears to be a good pipeline of prospective new Assemblies. What we need to do is work hard to bring these into fruition. Let me know if I can help in some way.

Our goal this year is to create 133 new Assemblies across the Order. As you can see, we have lots of work to do. With summer and Christmas now past us, it is time to look at the districts to see where there are potential Assemblies.

Look for Councils without Assemblies, large cumbersome Assemblies with very high membership, or large geographical areas that could be split. Be creative, but as our Worthy Supreme Master has said, “We want quality, not just quantity.”

Thank you for your hard work on this!

God Bless,



Dale Hofer, PSD

Director of New Assembly Development

Beginning this month, the Fourth Degree will launch Shining Sword, a monthly feature that shines the spotlight on an incredible Sir Knight who goes above and beyond. This month, we are proud to feature Sir Knight Amine Al-Bahloly from Our Lady of Guadalupe Province in Texas. Brother Amine is a member of Thomas J. Flanagan Council 11596 and Our Lady of Guadalupe Assembly 2628. Last month, Amine shared with the Supreme Master that he was diagnosed with Asperger’s in 2012, and that he is exceptionally proud of how the diagnosis has not prevented him from tirelessly giving of himself to the Knights of Columbus. Currently, he serves the Texas State Council as District Deputy 50, while also performing duties as the Lector for his council and as Faithful Trustee of his assembly. He even gives of his time by serving as the social media chairman for his chapter of the state council.



Amine is a Past Grand Knight and Past Faithful Navigator, having also served as his chapter’s Warden. As a five time Knight of the Month, one time Knight of the year, and his chapter’s Knight of the Year for 2014-2015, the Supreme Assembly is so very proud of all he does for the Knights. Please click HERE to review a news story featuring Brother Amine.

Administrative Assistant

Justyna Padilla 

justyna.padilla@kofc.org

203-752-4437

Special Projects and Associate Fourth Degree Specialist

Addie Roth 

adella.roth@kofc.org

203-752-4009