CHARITY, UNITY, FRATERNITY, AND PATRIOTISM

The Knights of Columbus was founded in 1882 by a 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, in the basement of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven Connecticut. Today, more than a century later, the Knights of Columbus has become the largest lay organization in the Catholic Church.

Knights of Columbus are Catholic gentlemen, committed to the exemplification of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism, and defense of the priesthood. The Order is consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Order is unequivocal in its loyalty to the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth. It is firmly committed to the protection of human life, from conception to natural death, and to the preservation and defense of the family. It was on these bedrock principles that the Order was founded over a century ago, and remains true to them today.

Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to practical Catholic men in union with the Holy See, who are at least 18 years old. A practical Catholic is one who lives up to the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church.