The Vision of Father McGivney

Founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, curate at St. Mary's parish in New Haven, Conn., the Knights of Columbus was chartered on March 29, 1882, in the State of Connecticut. As the priest explained to a small group of men at a meeting in the basement of St. Mary's Church in October 1881, his purpose in calling them together was manifold: to help Catholic men remain steadfast in their faith through mutual encouragement; to promote closer ties of fraternity among them; and to set up an elementary system of insurance so that the widows and children of members in the group who might die would not find themselves in dire financial straits.

The founder and first officers of the fledgling organization chose the name "Knights of Columbus" because they felt that, as a Catholic group, it should relate to Christopher Columbus, the Catholic discoverer of America. This would emphasize that it was Catholics who discovered, explored and colonized the North American continent. At the same time "Knights" would signify that the membership embodied knightly ideals of spirituality and service to Church, country and fellowman. 

By the end of 1897 the Order was thoroughly rooted in New England, along the upper Atlantic seaboard and into Canada. Within the next eight years it branched out from Quebec to California, and from Florida to Washington. From such promising beginnings Father McGivney's original group has blossomed into an international society of more than 1.5 million Catholic men plus their families, in more than 10,000 councils who have dedicated themselves to the ideals of Columbianism: Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism.

In mid-August of 1890, one of the largest funerals in the history of Waterbury, Connecticut, took place. The throngs who attended were grieving the death, at age 38, of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. 

Delegations were present from almost every one of the 57 Knights of Columbus councils that had been chartered in the Order's first eight years. The Bishop of Hartford and more than 70 of Connecticut's Catholic priests were joined by many civic leaders. It was reported that every available carriage for miles around had been rented for the great procession. 

Father McGivney's funeral was an indication of the love and respect the people felt for this hardworking, holy, parish priest. It also reflected the deep personal appeal that immigrant Catholics immediately found in the Knights of Columbus. Since that time, the Order's growth has never stopped. Today it is the largest society of Catholic men in the world, with 1.6 million members in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, and several Central American and Caribbean countries. 

One of Father McGivney's initial objectives in founding the Order, that of providing security for the widows and children of deceased members, has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. The Knights of Columbus insurance program offers its certificate holders a versatile portfolio of protection - all done "for Brother Knights by Brother Knights."

"Don't keep the Faith - spread it!" long has been a guiding principle of the Knights of Columbus. More than $1 million is budgeted annually by the Order for various projects of the Catholic Advertising Program. 

The Knights of Columbus funded the construction of the campanile or Knights' Tower at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. The bells for the tower were donated by the Order as well. In keeping with this commitment to Our Lady's Shrine, the Order established the "Luke E. Hart Memorial Fund" in 1979 in the amount of $500,000. Earnings are used to promote Marian devotion and to preserve the beauty of the basilica in perpetuity.

To mark the Order's hundredth anniversary in 1982, the Knights of Columbus brought the remains of Father McGivney from Waterbury back to St. Mary's Church in New Haven, where he had founded the Order. There he now rests in a setting in which daily Mass is offered for the deceased members and their deceased spouses of the Order and prayers are said in his honor. His cause for canonization is proceeding.