All three versions stress that unless a person is willing to back up his belief with concrete action he is on the wrong side of a credibility gap.
The Knights of Columbus practice their belief that "faith without works is dead." This is evident from the approbation for the Order expressed by Pope Paul VI. Speaking extemporaneously to the supreme officers and directors at a special audience in the Vatican in 1973, the pontiff said: "Tell your sons, your nephews, your grandsons; tell the people that the pope loves the Knights of Columbus."
Earlier the Pope had remarked: "Indeed you have been brothers to the poor, to the sick, to the young, to the aged and to the underprivileged. In the name of all those whom you have helped by your brotherly compassion, we thank you from our heart."
But the Holy Father did not stop there. "The glory of the Knights of Columbus," he continued, "is not based on humanitarian works alone. Even more admirable have been your insistence upon the supremacy of God and your fidelity to the vicar of Christ. In truth you can call yourselves "brothers" because you call God your Father and have declared yourselves ready to do His will and serve His cause."
In April 1978, at an audience granted to the Board of Directors then meeting in Rome, Pope Paul VI called the Knights "an immense force for good."
"We rely on you," -- he continued, "on each of you, on all of you, on the association itself, the Knights of Columbus -- to bring holiness to the world, to live the Gospel values in your families, to transmit them to your children with the infectious conviction of joyful faith. Christ needs you to bring fraternal concern to your neighborhoods, to exemplify justice in your communities, to spread peace and truth in the world."
In his brief but glorious pontificate, Pope John Paul II paid tribute to the Order in these words: "I give my blessing to all Knights of Columbus: their families and all the work they do."
At the private audience granted to the officers and directors in Washington, D.C., in October 1979, Pope John Paul II was told that, when family members are counted, the Knights of Columbus involves five or six million people.
"Why, that's a nation, " His Holiness exclaimed with a smile. "The nation of Columbus! You should have representation at the United Nations!"
More seriously, however, he continued: "It gives me great pleasure to be with you on the occasion of my pastoral visit to the United States. I thank you most sincerely for the respect and love which you have manifested toward me as Successor of Peter, Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church.
"In the person of the Supreme Knight and the Members of the Supreme Board, I greet all the Knights of Columbus, the more than one million three hundred thousand Catholic laymen all over the world, who display a spirit of profound attachment to their Christian faith and of loyalty to the Apostolic See.
"Many times in the past, and again today, you have given expression to your solidarity with the mission of the Pope. I see in your support a further proof - if further proof were ever necessary - of your awareness that the Knights of Columbus highly value their vocation to be part of the evangelization effort of the Church....
"I am aware of the many efforts you make to promote the use of mass media for the spreading of the Gospel and for the wider diffusion of my own messages. May the Lord reward you, and through your efforts bring forth abundant fruits of evangelization in the Church. May your dedicated activity in turn help you to realize in yourselves those interior attitudes without which no one can truly evangelize: trust in the power of the Holy Spirit, true holiness of life, deep concern for truth, and an ever increasing love for all God's children.
"May the Lord's blessing be upon you, upon your families and upon all the Knights of Columbus."
Pope John Paul II has spoken many times since then to and about the Knights of Columbus. At an audience granted to the board of directors during his 1987 visit to the United States, he said: "The Knights are loyal to the Pope."
For us, "These Men They Call Knights," this says it all.