NEW HAVEN, Conn. — As Catholics in the U.S. wrap up National Vocation Awareness Week Nov. 3-9, one of the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organizations announced it has provided more than $100 million to date to those seeking religious life. In a Nov. 8 media release, the Knights of Columbus said that its local councils — which globally total over 16,800 — have helped to donate more than $100 million directly to seminarians, postulants and novices. That support is channeled through the Knights’ Refund Support Vocations Program, which was launched in 1981 as vocations in North America began to decline. Through RSVP, every $500 a local council provides to a seminarian or religious life aspirant is incentivized by a refund of $100 from the Knights’ Supreme Council, up to $400 for $2,000 donated. Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly noted that the Knights’ own founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, “almost had to leave seminary after his father’s death because of the financial strain facing his family.” Kelly noted that “RSVP and our other vocation scholarships are really our way of paying that forward and supporting the next generation of priests and religious.” (OSV News)
