Knights of Columbus

Knights of Columbus Official Seal

A fraternity of Catholic men founded in 1882 in the United States by Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut to render help to persons and families of scarce means, following the social doctrine and teachings of the Church.

Such Order grew rapidly and today it is spread all over the world having more than 11,000 Councils and 1.6 million members. It has a feminine branch or section called Elizabethan Ladies and the youth section called Squires of Columbus. The Order was established in Havana on March 29, 1909, spreading throughout the entire island, and in 1959 it had 20 Councils distributed among the 6 Cuban Provinces.

There were many Columbian achievements in those 50 years of work, projecting itself into public life, advocating and getting the approval to invoke God’s name during the works of the 1940 Constitutional Assembly and in the vigorous civic and political campaign PRO COUNTRY AND SCHOOL to protect Cuban children and youth from the threatening atheism at that moment inspired by the starting Marxist-Leninist ideology that was already being felt, that tried to eradicate God’s name from school texts.

Thanks to the initiative of Father Ángel Garau, SDB, Principal of Saint Julian School, in 1954 Saint Julian Council #3906 was established in Güines receiving a warm welcome in the Villa, with many distinguished Catholic Güinero men of all social levels, joining its ranks. The first Council’s Grand Knight was Eneas Almoína Castellanos (1954-1957), followed by Dr. Juan A. Simón Gutiérrez (1957-1958), Juan Domínguez Jurado (1958-1959), CPA Manuel Fuentevilla Martínez (1959-1960) and Armando de Armas Torréns (1960-1961). The Council celebrated its sessions at Saint Julian School kindly ceded by its Principal Father Garau and his successor, Father Enrique Méndez.

In 1955 the juvenile branch of the Knights of Columbus was founded with St. Dominic Savio Circle #948 of the Squires of Columbus, being Eddy Tagle García its first Chief Squire, followed by, in chronological order, Ysaac Chabo Eskeff, Francisco Pita González, José Gil-Berlinches, José Manuel Fernández Núñez and Mariano Domínguez Gil.

During the few years that this organization functioned in the Villa of Güines, it performed all kinds of social, civic and religious activities. The help to poor people was increased, schools were visited as well as the jail and hospital, offering hope and help to needy or marginalized persons. Güines' Knights of Columbus issued a bulletin named Brújula (Compass) whose Editor was Leonardo Rodríguez Rodríguez and the Squires of Columbus also had their publication called Escudo (Shield) edited by Píó Emilio Serrano Castellanos with the collaboration of Iván Pedreguera Herrera and Francisco Miguel Barroso Molina. Both publications had ample circulation in the Villa.

With the arrival of the Communist system, this Catholic fraternal organization ceased to exist and was closed in Güines in 1961 by the regime’s representatives trying to eradicate all religious activities, confiscating private religious schools and expelling from Cuba, priests, nuns, pastors, ministers, rabbis and other persons connected with any type of religion. We hope that God will be merciful with our people and that some day Cuba can return to what have always been the true values and aspirations of the Cuban people.

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