{"id":64,"date":"2026-07-23T08:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/?page_id=64"},"modified":"2026-07-23T08:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:13:10","slug":"about-the-knights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/about-the-knights\/","title":{"rendered":"About The Knights"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \n
\n\n

\n The Knights of Columbus was officially founded March 29, 1882, by a\n 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, in the basement\n of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut. Today, more than\n a century later, the Knights of Columbus has become the largest lay\n men’s organization in the Catholic Church, with more than\n 1.7 million members and more than 13,000 councils throughout North\n America, Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Europe.\n <\/p>\n\n

\n The Order has been called “the strong right arm of the\n Church,” and has been praised by popes, presidents, and other\n world leaders for its support of the Church, programs of evangelization\n and Catholic education, civic involvement, and aid to those in need.\n <\/p>\n\n

\n On March 15, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI approved a decree recognizing the\n heroic virtue of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of\n Columbus. The pope’s declaration significantly advanced the\n priest’s process toward sainthood and gave the parish priest the\n distinction of “Venerable Servant of God.” If canonized,\n Father McGivney would be the first American-born priest to be so honored.\n <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n

\n\n

\n Volunteer Service and Insurance\n <\/h2>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

\n As the Order has grown, its benevolence has multiplied. The Order\n continues to break all previous records for charitable contributions\n and volunteer service. Since its founding, the Knights has donated\n billions of dollars to numerous charitable causes and millions of\n hours of volunteer service.\n <\/p>\n\n

\n Father McGivney’s founding vision for the Order also included\n establishing a life insurance program to provide for the widows and\n orphans of deceased members. The Order’s insurance program has\n expanded substantially to serve more effectively the Knights’\n growing membership. Year after year, the Knights of Columbus has earned\n the highest possible quality ratings for financial soundness from\n A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The Order provides quality\n insurance and annuity products to its members, along with many other\n fraternal benefits.\n <\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n

\n\n

\n Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism\n <\/h2>\n\n
<\/div>\n\n

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

The Knights of Columbus was officially founded March 29, 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 men’s organization in the Catholic Church, with more than 1.7 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “About The Knights”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-64","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1708,"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/64\/revisions\/1708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kofc6498.org\/vfm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}