Q: Our local Knights council has asked about purchasing a funeral pall to be employed for funerals of council members at the sponsoring parishes. I have no objection to this, but I know they will want to strongly, maybe most strongly, feature the Knights of Columbus shield logo on this pall.  The K of C shield is an excellent symbol of fraternity and even parochial investment, in our respective cases, but it is not what I would call a liturgical symbol.  I am of a mind to approve their request but wanted to ask your opinion about it. If you are inclined against it, would your objections be mollified if the K of C symbol were but a minor decorative feature? 

Many thanks for your expertise and willingness to advise,

==

A: The pall is a reminder of the baptismal garment, and it shows the equality of all baptized Christians—prince and pauper, pope and priest. The bible has several examples showing that white garments are the uniform of heaven. Here’s a previous post:  https://paulturner.org/pall-of-the-casket/.

I don’t know a rule against it, but personally, I think it’s not a good idea to distinguish deceased K of C members from others who are baptized. If you’re leaning toward it, a minor decorative feature would be less disturbing of the symbol of the pall.

View All Blog Posts | Explore Books | Submit a Blog Question | Share Post via Email