The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Blessed Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882.[1][2] Membership is limited to practical Catholic men.[3] It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order’s 14th Supreme Knight.[3][4]

The organization was founded in March 1882 as a mutual benefit society for working-class and immigrant Catholics in the United States. It has grown to support refugee relief, Catholic education, local parishes and dioceses, and global Catholic social and political causes.[1][5][6][7] The Knights promote the Catholic view on public policy issues, including opposition to same-sex marriage[8] and abortion.[9] Between 2008 and 2012, K of C gave at least $15 million to lobbies opposed to same-sex marriage.[8]: 1

The organization also provides certain financial services to the individual and institutional Catholic market.[10] Its wholly owned insurance company, one of the largest in the world, underwrites more than two million insurance contracts, totaling more than $100 billion of life insurance in force.[11] The order also owns the Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors, a money management firm which invests in accordance with Catholic social teachings.

As of 2019, there were nearly two million members around the world.[12][13][14] Women may participate in K of C through the Columbiettes and other female auxiliaries, and boys may join the Columbian Squires. The Order comprises four different “degrees”, each one of which exemplifies one of the core principles of the order.[1] There are more than 16,000 local Knights of Columbus councils around the world,[13] including over 300 on college campuses.[15][16]

Founding

Michael J. McGivney, an American Catholic priest, founded the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, Connecticut. He gathered a group of men from St. Mary’s Parish for an organizational meeting on October 2, 1881. It was incorporated on March 29, 1882. McGivney had originally conceived of the name “Sons of Columbus”. James T. Mullen, who later led the organization, coined the name “Knights of Columbus”, which expressed the ritualistic nature of the new organization and drew from positive historical associations.[1]

The Order was intended to be a mutual benefit society. As a parish priest in an immigrant community, McGivney saw what could happen to a family when the main income earner died. This was before most government support programs were established. He wanted to provide insurance to care for the widows and orphans left behind. In his own life, he temporarily had to suspend his seminary studies to care for his family after his father died.[2]

Because of religious and ethnic discrimination, Roman Catholics in the late 19th century were regularly excluded from labor unions, popular fraternal organizations, and other organized groups that provided such social services.[3] Papal encyclicals issued by the Holy See also prohibited Catholics from participating as lodge members within Freemasonry. McGivney intended to create an alternative organization. He also believed that Catholicism and fraternalism were compatible and wanted to found a society to encourage men to be proud of their American–Catholic heritage.[4]

Fraternal organizations, which combined social aspects and ritual, were especially flourishing during the latter third of the nineteenth century, the so-called “Golden Age of Fraternalism.[5] New Haven’s Irish Catholic men of the era could have joined one of many other organizations,[a] and Catholics of other ethnicities had additional options.[6]

Charitable Giving

The Knights of Columbus states that charity is its most important principle.[36][37] Beginning in 1897, the National Council encouraged local councils to establish funds to support members affected by the 1890s depression.[38] Aid was also dispensed to assist victims of natural and man-made disasters in the early 20th century.[39][40] Councils also offered employment agency services and provided aid to the poor and sick as well as people burdened with intellectual disability.[41][42][43] At their 2019 convention, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said that the organization had donated $185 million and 76 million volunteer hours toward charity projects in 2018.[44] Charitable activities include support for refugees, aid for victims of natural disasters, and advocating Catholic ethics, such as opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. After the Knights had donated more than 1,000 ultrasound machines to crisis pregnancy centers from 2009 to 2019, Anderson said “Our ultrasound initiative is now the greatest humanitarian achievement in the history of the Knights of Columbus. … We can, and I am confident that we will, save millions of unborn lives.”[45]

Source: Knights of Columbus. History of the Knights of Columbus – Founding. Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply