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History of the Supreme Council

 

On Oct. 2, 1881, a group of men met in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Conn. Called together by their 29-year-old parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, these men formed a fraternal society that would one day become the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization with more than 1.8 million members in 15,000 councils, with nearly 200 councils on college campuses. They sought strength in solidarity, and security through unity of purpose and devotion to a holy cause: they vowed to be defenders of their country, their families and their faith. These men were bound together by the ideal of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the Americas, the one whose hand brought Christianity to the New World. Their efforts came to fruition with the incorporation of the Knights of Columbus on March 29, 1882. The Order has been called "the strong right arm of the Church," and has been praised by popes, presidents and other world leaders, for support of the Church, programs of evangelization and Catholic education, civic involvement and aid to those in need.

 

Father McGivney’s founding vision for the Order also included a life insurance program to provide for the widows and orphans of deceased members. The Order’s insurance program has expanded substantially to serve more effectively the Knights’ growing membership. Year after year, the Knights of Columbus has earned the highest possible quality ratings for financial soundness from A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The Order provides the highest quality insurance, annuity and long-term care products to its members, along with many other fraternal benefits. The Knights of Columbus offers a modern, professional insurance operation with more than $77 billion of life insurance policies in force as of August 2010. Products include permanent and term life insurance as well as annuities and long term care insurance. The Order holds $16 billion in assets and had $1.8 billion (as of August 2010) in revenue, paid over $243 million in death benefits in 2009 and $1.7 billion in the last decade as of August 2010. This is large enough to rank 49th on the A.M Best list of all life insurance companies in North America and places it on the Fortune 1000 list as #929 of top companies as of August 2010. Only two other insurers in North America have received the highest ratings from both A. M. Best and Standard & Poor's. The Order is certified by the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association for ethical sales practices.

 

The Supreme Council is the governing body of the Knights of Columbus and is responsible for the development of the organization as a whole. Supreme Council duties include establishing the Order in new regions and setting up regional authorities, defining and advancing its values and goals, undertaking organization-wide initiatives, promoting awareness of the Knights’ mission worldwide, and protecting the families of members through its extensive insurance program. Members working in local or subordinate councils, however, carry on the majority of the Knights’ beneficial work.

 

From the moment of the founding of the K of C in 1882, charity has been the first principle of the Knights of Columbus. In 2010, in addition to raising and donating more than $151 million to charitable needs and projects, Knights volunteered more than 69 million hours of their time to charitable causes, undertaking these acts of charity because they see those in need through the eyes of faith. Moreover, in the Knights of Columbus, they approach these acts of charity together, as Pope Benedict XVI called it the “practice of love...as a community.”

 

Knights of Columbus charitable activities encompass an almost infinite variety of local, national and international projects. From international charitable partnerships with Special Olympics, the Global Wheelchair Mission and Habitat for Humanity to the K of C Food for Families and Coats for Kids projects and other purely local charities, the opportunity to work together with fellow Knights and their families is virtually endless.

 

The Knights’ annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009, indicated that, despite a soft economy, total charitable contributions reached $151,105,867 – exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $1 million. The figure includes $34,627,530 donated by the Supreme Council, and $116,477,971 in contributions from state and local councils assemblies and Squires circles. The survey also indicated that the quantity of volunteer service hours to charitable causes by Knights grew to 69,251,926 – an increase of 468,291 hours compared to 2009. There were more than 413,000 Knights of Columbus blood donations during the year and, among the most common service programs, Habitat for Humanity received 227,900 K of C volunteer hours. Cumulative figures show that during the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated more than $1.367 billion to charity, and provided nearly 640 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.

 

If you’d like to be a part of an international organization of Catholic men whose principal work involves helping others in need, we'd like to meet you and invite you to join us. To find out how to become a member of the Knights of Columbus, click the link “Join the K of C” on the Council #105 Homepage.

 

REF:

http://www.kofc.org/un/en/about/history/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_Columbus

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