Father Augusto Villote and Deacon Fred Totah honored by Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus held their annual Clergy Night dinner on Friday, Jan. 23, at Holy Angels parish in Daly City. The local councils of the Knights of Columbus come together each year the night before the Walk for Life West Coast to support local clergy and vocations, recognizing priests and deacons who have supported the Knights in their work. Father Augusto E. Villote (pictured right) and Deacon Fred Totah were the award recipients this year. Father Villote is the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish and Deacon Fred Totah serves at St. Timothy parish, is the director of Pastoral Ministry and Diaconate Formation for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and serves as chaplain for the San Mateo Police Department.
During the dinner, clergy and religious were recognized and a collection was taken up to support vocations, raising more than $4,000 for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. Also in attendance was the newest Knights of Columbus Council from St. Francis of Assisi parish in East Palo Alto.
Archbishop Cordileone thanked the Knights of Columbus for their friendship and support of the clergy and the Church.
“May God bless you and reward you for all the good that you do in serving the Church around the world in so many other ways,” he said. “As we’ve heard tonight, the Knights do so much in serving the needy. It’s not a matter of social service; it’s a matter of truly putting faith in action, evangelizing, and loving with the love of Christ.”
The archbishop also thanked the Knights for their example in living their vocations, which then inspires the clergy in their vocation of spiritual fatherhood.
“What I want to thank you most especially for is being faithful husbands and good fathers,” he said. “This is what the world needs more than anything else right now. You bring out the best in us. You call us to aspire to be the best that we can to be spiritual fathers to God’s children. Let us thank God that He’s given us this vocation and that we can support each other in living it out.”
For more information about the Knights of Columbus visit: https://www.kofc.org/.
To learn more about the local chapters and work of the Knights, contact Brian Marston: marstonb@jnmassoc.net.
Photos by John Bartolome
