Utah Knight becomes Vice Supreme Master

Intermountain Catholic

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Chuck Dover

SALT LAKE CITY — Knight of Columbus Chuck Dover was recently appointed to a two-year position as vice supreme master over the John H. Reddin Province districts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Dover attended the 129th Supreme Convention Aug. 2-4 and the 101st Supreme Assembly meeting Aug. 4-5 in Denver, Colo.

Dover is a former district master of Utah and a past state deputy. He joined the Knights of Columbus in 1981 and is a member of Saint Martin de Porres Parish.

Dover is one of 20 vice supreme masters in the world. His appointment came from Fourth Degree Supreme Master Dennis Stoddard and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. Stoddard oversees the Fourth Degree throughout the world and Anderson is over the Knights of Columbus throughout the world.

"There are more than 1.8 million Knights worldwide, so this is a significant appointment and an honor for Utah," Dover said. "Utah has been active in the Knights of Columbus since 1900 and this is only the second time a vice supreme master has been appointed from Utah. Ed Shulfer was the first and served during the 1980s."

As vice supreme master, Dover’s responsibilities will include maintaining membership and encouraging growth in the four districts he oversees as well as having viable programs in each district to promote patriotism. Of the four levels of the Knights of Columbus, the Fourth Degree, which is the highest, focuses on patriotism.

As part of their patriotic work, the Knights support the Veteran Administration Volunteer Service. "We affiliate Knights with VA hospitals and clinics to supply volunteers to meet veterans’ needs by visiting them, providing vans to transport them to medical appointments and also transport them throughout VA facilities," Dover said. "There are 153 VA hospitals worldwide and the Knights cover 139 of them."

The Knights also published and distributed more than 500,000 prayer books and rosary beads to active-duty soldiers serving in the Middle East, Dover said. "Our biggest problem is a shortage of Catholic priests," he said. "Many service men and women go for months without seeing a Catholic priest. So at the 129th convention, we adopted the initiative to have the vice supreme masters oversee fund raising for chaplain scholarships so seminarians could become military priests."

There are 64 military Knights of Columbus councils. "Catholic men serving in the military have formed Knights of Columbus councils to hold prayer services to maintain their Catholic faith, and this is especially important because of the shortage of priests," Dover said.

The Knights have also set up a veteran’s crisis line to help soldiers who return from war and have lost their jobs, their homes, are having marital issues, or may be addicted to drugs or alcohol. "The crisis line averages 400,000 calls per year," Dover said. "The Knights have documented that they have saved more than 8,000 veterans per year from committing suicide. The crisis line is 1-800-273-8255."

The vice supreme masters also keep the bishops in each of the diocese in their districts informed of what the Fourth Degree Knights are doing in terms of evangelization. "We do not have as many clergy and religious as we once had to promote vocations, so the Knights are challenged to take that position, " Dover said. "I am also responsible for recruiting younger members."

The average age of Fourth Degree Knights is 63.7 years, he said.

"Young people need to know the importance of the freedom of religion and how much the Catholic Church needs a government that allows us to practice our religion," Dover said. "The Knights promote helping young people understand these freedoms are not always available worldwide."

It is also Dover’s responsibility to promote the Fourth Degree Knights to wear their regalia, which is a statement of Catholic men supporting their faith, he said.