© 2010 Knights of Columbus. All rights reserved.  |  Home  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact  |  Site Index

Our Mission:

The Knights of Columbus was established in 1882 to provide a means by which Catholic men could support the Catholic Church, provide financial protection to protect their families, and engage in works of charity to benefit the less fortunate.

Today, 1.8 million members make up the largest Catholic lay organization in the world, its insurance program has $74 billion of life insurance in force, and last year Knights donated more than $150 million and volunteered 68 million hours of their time to charity.

From helping children in need to providing wheelchairs for the physically disabled and support for the intellectually handicapped, from helping to stock food banks to offering top-rated and affordable life insurance to its members, the Knights has been at the service of the communities in which we live and the needy around the world for more than 127 years.

Who We Are

We are an independent, non-canonical organization that nonetheless is completely supportive of the Church at the parish, diocesan, national and international levels. Many thousands of priests and bishops are members. We are a Catholic, family, fraternal, service organization.

We have always regarded ourselves as the “strong right arm of the Church,” and a major part of the Order’s work is devoted to supporting our parish priests, bishops, and the Pope in a wide variety of ways. Last year, we provided more than $17.6 million for church-related grants and programs, including $2.3 million for vocations support.

Each year, the Order presents the Pope with earnings from our Vicarius Christi Fund for his personal charities. Last year, the earnings totaled $1.6 million.