BARLING — When Father Michael G. McGivney met with his immigrant parishioners at St. Mary Church in New Haven, Conn., in 1881 to found the Knights of Columbus, he wanted to establish a fraternal organization that would make them proud of their Catholic heritage and provide mutual benefits for widows and orphans.
In the late 19th century, Catholics were often banned from membership in labor unions and other fraternal organizations. The Knights of Columbus, founded on March 29, 1882, helped them assimilate into American society while preserving their Irish-American Catholic heritage, according to the Knights of Columbus Web site.
One hundred twenty-five years later, the Vietnamese community at Christ the King Church decided to establish a Knights of Columbus council. On March 23, 2009, the Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Council received its charter. It is the first Vietnamese council in Arkansas, and only the third in the United States. Its 32 members decided to form a council for many of the reasons Irish-American immigrants joined together in 1882.
“Two of us have been members of Council 996 in Columbus Acres since 1984,” Peter Le said. “We decided to form our own council because we wanted to help our church, build our community and preserve our culture.”
Most of the Vietnamese community has lived in the United States for years, but many are continuing to sponsor family members who want to leave Vietnam, which is under Communist rule, and become American citizens. The community primarily attends Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Barling and is ministered to by Father Peter Quang Le. They have an active membership and work hard to keep their traditions and religious practices alive. Every Thanksgiving, they present a drama commemorating the Vietnamese martyrs, their patron saints. From the 17th century to the present day, between 130,000 and 300,000 Vietnamese were put to death, some during different religious persecutions and some under Communism. Pope John Paul II canonized the 117 whose names are known on June 19, 1988.
The community also prepares and sells food for Marian Days, honoring Our Lady of LaVang, in Carthage, Mo., every August, joining 60,000 to 80,000 Vietnamese American pilgrims from all over the United States to honor Mary.
This year, they are holding two Vietnamese New Year festivals. On Feb. 6, they hosted a dinner and performance at Christ the King Church, their former parish, where many of their children still attend school. On Feb. 13, they will host an afternoon carnival to raise money for tuition assistance and an evening dinner-dance at Sacred Heart of Mary Church. The general public is welcome to attend.
“I’d like you to know that Knights of Columbus is something new to us,” Le said. “It’s not in Vietnam. We are real active in the Catholic Church, and we have a lot of prayer groups but not a lot of fundraising groups. All of us are new to it.”
The fledgling council is considering different ways to raise funds to help their parish. The Vietnamese community is well-known for its food, and most of the group agreed that a food booth or dinner was a good fundraising idea.
The fundraisers will be their first. To date, annual dues have been their only source of funding. As a group, however, they repaired the church gate at Sacred Heart of Mary and helped the community refurbish “the Rock” house. The Vietnamese community recently refurbished it for Eucharistic Youth. They remodeled it, putting concrete around the foundation to prevent leaks, fixing up a storage room and equipping the building with ping pong and billiards tables.
They are learning the rules and protocols of the Knights of Columbus and are anxious to start building their organization through fundraising and membership drives so that they can help the Church.
Father Le, associate pastor at Sacred Heart of Mary, said, “I am happy that the group has started. We have a lot of prayer and help with fundraising and activities.”
