NEWARK — Knights of Columbus from around the state of Delaware gathered on Jan. 23 to honor the priests who serve as chaplains at the various councils. Sixteen priests, mostly diocesan but a few from religious orders, were on hand for dinner at Deerfield Golf Club in Newark.
Father Michael Darcy, the state chaplain, gave the invocation and noted that the national Knights of Columbus last year began honoring a chaplain of the year.
He told the group that the Delaware council had nominated Father John Gayton of the Christopher Council, which serves Holy Rosary and St. Helena’s parishes. Father Gayton and the council co-sponsored food drives for more than a year during the coronavirus pandemic. The priest contracted COVID three times “while the rest of us were bunkered down and spraying ourselves with Lysol,” he joked.
After dinner, seminarian Brooks Jensen thanked the Knights for their support of those studying for the priesthood, noting that their financial assistance helps the men in formation concentrate on their studies.