Led by the quiet, unassuming curate of St. Mary's Parish in New Haven, Connecticut, a small group of men established the Knights of Columbus in the church basement in 1882. The priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, realized that both Catholics and the Church faced serious problems such as anti-Catholicism and ethnic prejudice; under-employment; lack of social standing; and early loss of the breadwinner. To resolve those problems, Father McGivney conceived the idea of an organization of Catholic men who would band together to:
They called themselves Knights of Columbus - Knights to emphasize chivalry's ideals of charity and support for Church and state, and Columbus as a reminder that Catholics had been the backbone of America's growth and greatness from the very beginning.
Today, there are more than 1.8 million members in 14,600+ Councils in over a dozen countries, making it the largest fraternal lay Catholic family service organization in the world. The Order's insurance program is the highest rated in North America and has greater than $94 billion of life insurance in force. During the past decade, the Knights have donated nearly $1.5 billion to charitable activities and provided in excess of 683 million hours of volunteer service. In 2008, Father McGivney was given the title, "Venerable Servant of God," by the Holy See, and marks an important step on his journey to beatification and canonization.
The Council at Fort Belvoir (#11170) was chartered in 1993 with 53 members and now exceeds 180.
The Supreme Council in New Haven, Connecticut is responsible for the international Knights ofColumbus organization which exists in 72 jurisdictions around the globe. Our State Council oversees 30 Districts having 143 Councils and 26,600+ Knights throughout Virginia.