Black History Month: Local Knights of Peter Claver Council celebrating 40 years

Saint Peter Claver spent 38 years in the 1600s as an ordained priest in the Spanish port city of Cartegena, ministering and evangelizing African slaves who had been delivered in horrendous conditions to be sold.

Conservative estimates suggest he catechized and baptized more than 300,000 through compassion and love.

His example and impact lives on today, including in Oklahoma City, through the Corpus Christi Catholic Church Knights to Peter Claver Council, established in 1985 and active since. Corpus Christi is home to Council No. 264 and Saint Martin De Porres Court No. 264, celebrating 40 years of serving the community through works of mercy.

The Knights of Peter Claver (KOPC) is the largest predominantly African American Catholic fraternal organization in the United States. Founded in 1909 in Mobile, Alabama, the KOPC’s purpose is to serve God and the Catholic Church, aid the sick and disabled and promote social interaction and education among its members. 

“We have an organization for the entire family that’s Catholic,” said Garry Bostick, Grand Knight of the local council.

The order was founded in Mobile by four priests of the Saint Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart: Fathers Conrad F. Rebesher, John H. Dorsey, Samuel J. Kelly and Joseph P. Van Baast; and Black laymen Gilbert Faustina, Francis Xavier (Frank) Collins and Francis (Frank) Trenier.

The organization is active in the U.S. and South America, featuring more than 400 councils (men) and courts (ladies) throughout the U.S. and on San Andres Island in Colombia. For youths between the ages of 7 and 18 years old, the organization has junior councils (young men) and junior courts (young ladies).

The Knights are members of the worldwide International Alliance of Catholic Knights, now headquartered in New Orleans with more than 16,000 Catholic family members.
 
The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary provides opportunities for all Catholics to be actively involved in their faith by living the Gospel message. The Knights of Peter Claver, Ladies Auxiliary, Junior Knights and Junior Daughters engage in a variety of Church and community service projects: 

•    To support the local pastor, parish and bishop.
•    To become active, as a group, in a Knights respective community.
•    To instill civic pride and action.
•    To engage Knights in opportunities that will allow them to demonstrate their Catholicism.
•    To allow for social interaction by creating gatherings that might foster a sense of community.
•    To provide for the awarding of scholarships.
•    To develop the character of youth.
•    To provide social and intellectual stimulation for its members.

Corpus Christi Council and Saint Martin de Porres Court
“The Knights and Ladies at Corpus Christi Council and Saint Martin de Pores Court do many service projects around our parish such as setup and serving for the Feast of Corpus Christi, coffee and donuts, Christmas party, birthday months and Trunk or Treat,” Bostick said.

The council also works in the community, through clothes donations to the YMCA, donating blankets to the homeless and other projects.

Bostick said a Knight or Lady serves in all ministries at Corpus Christi Catholic Church.

The KOPC observes Saint Peter Claver Day on Sept. 9 and “Founder’s Day” on Nov. 7.

“We typically dress out for these days,” Bostick said, “to honor our patron saint and founding members.”

While the council features many committed members, Bostick recognizes Reggie Booker for his particular dedication, ranging from parish landscaping, providing funding for the coffee and donut ministry and personally purchasing equipment and extras that benefit various ministries.

“Brother Booker volunteers enormous amounts of time and money,” Bostick said. “His generosity makes events around the parish happen expeditiously without delay. The entire parish benefits from not just his monetary donations but his time and talents, which he gives significantly.

“But his greatest gift, in my opinion, to our noble organization and this parish is when he picks up a 94-year-old Knight on Sundays and brings him to church, in addition to our Knights meeting once a month. Going out of his way to care for a fellow Knight is an outstanding act of kindness.”

Lady Gina Bostick, another active member of the Auxiliary of KOPC, also draws Bostick’s attention.

“Lady Bostick serves as the current financial secretary and was the past treasurer for Court No. 264,” said Garry Bostick, “but she stands out as a constant presence in helping with working all Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary events, from collecting money to helping to clean up, working on the parish council – currently rewriting the parish’s constitution – and filling in to help where needed in the church, providing cheerful service for the Knights and Ladies and the entire parish.”
  
National convention
Oklahoma City hosted The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxillary108th annual National Convention and Conclave in July at the Omni Hotel. More than 1,200 Knights and Ladies from around the country and from several countries attended. They celebrated the opening convention Mass of Thanksgiving at the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine.

The Mass was celebrated by Most Reverend Shelton Fabre, Archbishop of Louisville and the National Chaplain of the Knights of Peter Claver. 

“Archbishop Fabre has spoken that during this moment of Eucharistic revival in the Church in the United States, the Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary are continually being called to live up to the Gospel values fully and completely,” Bostick said. “Just as baptism into the Church is not merely a singular experience between an individual and Christ, or merely an experience between an individual and a particular culture, this moment of Eucharistic revival is about a bond of fellowship that expresses how we are all one in Christ.

“Our very history of Claverism – and our presence in the Church today – is an example of how we are many parts, and all one Body in Christ.”

The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary, Corpus Christi Council No. 264 and 
Saint Martin de Porres Court is located at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 1005 N.E. 15 St., in Oklahoma City, (405) 236-4301.

Jolene Schonchin is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.

Photo: (Above) Knight Reggie Booker.
 
Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary Council No. 264 and Court No. 264 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Oklahoma City. Photos provided.

Installation of Officers of the Knights of Peter Claver Council No. 264.

Most Rev. Shelton Fabre, Archbishop of Louisville and the National Chaplain of the Knights of Peter Claver at the Solemn Opening Convention Mass of Thanksgiving at The Bl. Stanley Rother Shrine.