Columbus controversy? Knights of Columbus are too busy doing good

Five-hundred and thirty-one years since he docked the Santa Maria on a Bahamian island and went down in history for discovering the new world — even though he thought he’d found the old world — Christopher Columbus has had better anniversaries.

Only 20 states still recognize the second Monday in October as Columbus Day (Utah is one of them), on account of the way the Italian-born explorer treated the Indigenous people he encountered on his four voyages.

But there is one place he hasn’t fallen from grace, and likely never will.

Within the ranks of the Knights of Columbus, their namesake is as highly regarded as he ever was.

This statement is from the headquarters of the worldwide fraternal organization: “The Knights of Columbus continue to celebrate Columbus Day, knowing that the explorer gave voice and representation to generations of Catholics, and helped pave a path for the diverse society we have today.”

Closer to home, Andy Airriess says, “Columbus was a great man; he deserves a lot of credit for what he accomplished. In my mind, you shouldn’t judge what happened in the past by today’s standards. The example I use is Muhammad. Muhammad had slaves. What do you do about that? Today, would you do what Columbus did? Probably not. But back then it was par for the course.”

Andy is the public relations chair and historian for the Utah Council of the Knights of Columbus. He was formerly Utah State deputy, or state president. He’s been a Knight for 31 years. He knows Knight of Columbus history, locally and internationally, like the back of his hand, and, yes, he’s biased.

But after spending maybe 10 seconds defending Christopher Columbus, Andy is off in another direction, talking about a subject that’s nearer and dearer to his heart: all the good the Knights of Columbus do.

“That’s really what we’re about,” he said. “We’re about service work, about lending a helping hand. It’s basically, you know, who needs help?”

At the present, the Utah Knights are knee deep in fundraising for their annual Coats for Kids giveaway. Twelve years ago, when the program started, they handed out 300 coats at the start of winter. Last year: 5,500. This year they hope to top that.

They’re also sponsoring the Special Olympics, like they always do, making sure Special Olympians have the $250 they need to participate in events throughout the year.

Then there’s the Food for Pantries food drive and the Diaper Drive and the ultrasound machine the Knights plan to donate to a pregnancy resource center in Logan later this year.

Andy could go on and on, and he does, largely because there is so much variety to what the Knights do. About the only thing they aren’t good at is saying no.

“There is more that’s needed than we can possibly provide,” he concedes. “But we do what we can do.”

Last year, the Utah Knights — with a total membership of 3,200 men distributed in 32 separate orders located throughout the state — raised $320,000 for various causes and provided a combined 82,000 hours of service.

The Knights of Columbus have had a presence in Utah ever since 1901, when a group of 37 Catholic men met at the not-quite-finished Cathedral of the Madeleine on South Temple Street in Salt Lake City and became Council No. 602 in an organization that had been started 19 years earlier by a Catholic priest in Connecticut to help destitute Catholic families.

Today, there are over 16,000 councils around the world and more than 2 million Knights — who provide service to all denominations, creeds and races.

Or, as Andy puts it, “You don’t have to be Catholic to get a coat.”

He admits not every Knight is as high on Columbus as he is.

“There used to be a gentleman at my council, St. Joseph the Worker in West Jordan, who was Native American,” he recalls. “He had issues with the whole Columbus thing, but he still joined because of all the good that the order does. He is one of my all time favorite Knights because of all he did in such a joyful loving manner; just a wonderful, wonderful man.

“Being a Knight gives us the opportunity to live life more fully as Christians,” Andy says in summary. “Columbus is a title. It’s not like we have statues of Christopher Columbus in our homes. We have statues of Jesus in our homes. Columbus is just part of our name.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas 831 years ago. Columbus’ ship landed in 1492, 531 years ago.