About the Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus were founded amid a society hostile to Catholicism, including its values of charity and service. Father Michael J. McGivney, a parish priest from New Haven, CT, conceived of a way to rescue the men of his parish from the miasma of New England in 1881. He gathered a few of these men in the basement of St. Mary’s church to discuss his plan for a fraternal society, which would eventually become the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization.

Since those early days in the organization, the Knights have been inspired by the principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism. The Order grew as a group of Catholic laymen committed to the values of an idealized Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America who brought Christianity to the New World. This commitment manifested in charitable works, donations, evangelization programs, and the Order’s Insurance program. Created by Fr. McGivney to protect the widows and orphans of deceased Brother Knights, the program has consistently received high rankings from national organizations such as A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The Order quickly flourished throughout the country.

Today, the Knights of Columbus offer an escape from an increasingly secular society where a commitment to faith-inspired service is considered strange. The organization has been called “the strong right arm of the Church,” which is just one example of praise from various Church and world leaders. Collectively, the Knights have contributed over $175.1 million and 73.5 million hours of service over the past year alone. Since Supreme Knight Carl Anderson took up the Order's leadership in 2000, the Knights of Columbus has donated over 653 million hours of service and $1.4 billion to charity.

Visit the Knights online at kofc.org