Knights honor priests and deacons

Intermountain Catholic

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Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank speaks at the Recognition Dinner on Feb. 17. Among the priests recognized at the event were (seated, facing camera from left) Father Andrzej Skrzypiec, pastor of Saint Ambrose Catholic Church, where the dinner was held, and Bishop John C. Wester.

SALT LAKE CITY —Each year, the Knights of Columbus in Utah feted priests and deacons at a dinner to thank them for their dedication to the Church. This year there will be three such dinners throughout the state; the first was held Feb. 17, hosted by Council 602 at Saint Ambrose Parish in Salt Lake City.

Among the guests were the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, and Monsignor J. Terrence Fitzgerald, vicar general of the diocese, as well as other priests. Both Bishop Wester and Msgr. Fitzgerald are members of the Knights.

In his welcoming remarks, Bishop Wester thanked the Knights for the dinner.

"One of the most powerful things we can do as human beings is to affirm somebody, to be able to look at them and say ‘I affirm you, I honor you, I acknowledge your presence, I thank you for who you are and for what you do for our community,’" Bishop Wester said. "That’s why I’m so grateful to the Knights of Columbus for taking the time to affirm our priests and deacons, who do so much for our people in the diocese."

Bishop Wester also said he was grateful to Knights for all they do for the community.

The priests and deacons received thanks from Utah Knights of Columbus Supreme Director John Wainscott, who recently was re-elected to his third term on the Knights International Board of Directors.

"We appreciate all of our priests and deacons, that you’ve dedicated your lives to God and all of us," Wainscott said. "We thank you very much."

Priests and deacons serve as inspiration and teachers, said Chuck Dover, immediate past state deputy, who dined with Monsignor Robert Servatius, who taught Dover at Judge Memorial High School. Msgr. Servatius now is pastor at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Sandy.

"Through those inspirations of our teachers, and our pastors in our parishes, it gives us a lot of the inspiration of why Knights do what Knights do," Dover said. "We learned that sharing, we learned that conviction of the Catholic faith, through our clergy. They have set the examples, and done the training and the teaching. From that we carried forth to those ideals."

Keynote speaker for the evening was Salt Lake City Chief of Police Chris Burbank, whose views on immigration legislation echo Church teaching. Chief Burbank has opposed immigration laws similar to those passed in Arizona, and also opposed cross-deputization of police officers as immigration agents. In 2009, he received a special recognition from the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah for his work in protecting the civil rights of immigrants.

Speaking on leadership, Burbank said the leaders who impress him are those who lend their voice to the plight of someone else. Bishop Wester, with his work on behalf of immigrants, has shown that he is that type of leader, Burbank said.