STORY - "The Knights as they were?"
By Chris Welbourne.

It was in about 1960 that I became aware of the existence of the Knights of the Southern Cross or the Black Knights as they were sometimes called. At that time I was a member of the local Catholic youth club. At a youth club committee meeting we were discussing what we could do to improve the section of the premises we used for our activities. The discussion moved to improving some other parts of the building used by the people upstairs. After some considerable references to the people upstairs, mainly by older and more senior members, my curiosity caused me to ask “Who are the people upstairs?” My question was met by silence and looks that said “You should not ask that question” and “If you don’t know we aren’t in a position to tell you.”

After some research I discovered that the people upstairs were the Knights of the Southern Cross. The research (without the aid of the internet or any authoritative source for that matter) led me to believe that the Black Knights were like Catholic Masons, an organisation formed to counter the anti-Catholic practices of the Masonic lodges. Having seen first hand the influence that the Masons had in business and commerce, particularly in the areas of employment, it seemed reasonable enough that the Knights should be countering their discrimination.

For some years that was my perception of the Knights of the Southern Cross, a perception that was shared by many others. Around 1968, probably because I was diocesan president of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, I was invited to join the Knights. The invitation was accepted and I proceeded to the induction ceremony with the people upstairs. I was not comfortable with the induction ceremony particularly the pledge that I would give preference in matters of business and commerce to other members of the Knights. I immediately questioned this part of the pledge and was assured that it meant that only if all other things were equal would I be required to give preference to other Knights.

This was not a good start to my membership but it became worse. After attending several meetings it seemed to me that the only activity the Knights participated in was meeting and socialising, doing very little in between. The real purpose of the organisation evaded me. After about my third meeting I conveyed my impressions to the members and asked what was the point in meeting if no action followed.

Because of my attitude, one of the senior office bearers publicly took me to task in front of the whole meeting. In doing so he said that my father who was then deceased, had been a member of the Knights and implied that he would not be impressed with my questioning attitude. This had some impact on the assembled members but left me wondering. Later I discovered that my father had never been a member. The taskmaster was either con-fused or used a ploy for dramatic effect.

Shortly after that I was relocated through my work to another town. Before moving I thought I should transfer my membership but was informed that no branch of the Knights existed where I was going. After some time in the new parish I discovered that there was in fact a branch of the Knights there!

The Knights or I or both have changed since the sixties. Read about the modern Knights and their good works in our next issue.

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