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The Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic fraternal organization, named in honor of Christopher Columbus. It is open to membership to Catholic men age 18 and over. It was founded by a Catholic priest, Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut on February 2, 1882, and incorporated under the laws of Connecticut on March 29, 1882. Though not under direct control by the Roman Catholic Church, the Knights support the Church enthusiastically. The principles of the order are Charity, Fraternity, Unity, and Patriotism. The vast majority of the membership live in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines.McGivney founded the Knights at a time when Catholics were regularly excluded from the unions and men's organizations that provided social support services. The Knights of Columbus today is a multi-million dollar non-profit charitable organization. Knights may be seen distributing Tootsie Rolls to raise funds to fight mental illness, volunteering for the Special Olympics and other charitable organizations, erecting pro-life billboards and "Keep Christ in Christmas" signs, conducting blood drives and raising funds for disaster victims, or parading at patriotic events with their bright capes, feathered chapeaux, and ceremonial swords. The Knights of Columbus also provide annual funding for the satellite uplink of Pope John Paul IIJohn Paul II ne Karol Jozef Wojtyla (born May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, Poland), is the incumbent pope ( 1978 present), the first non-Italian pope in 455 years and the first ever from a Slavic country. His crusades against political oppression have been widel's worldwide Christmas address. In many countries that cannot afford satellite downlink, the Knights often pay for this as well.
One of the main reasons Fr. McGivney founded the Knights was to provide life insuranceLife insurance policies, including pensions and life annuity policies, provide payments depending on the life or the death of a particular person or persons. Life insurance policies are issued in two basic types: term life and permanent life. Term life in to its members. Today, members of the Knights of Columbus are still encouraged to purchase life insurance for themselves and their families, but they are not required to do so.
The governing body of the Knights of Columbus is the "Supreme Council," a body composed of elected representatives from each jurisdiction of the Order. This body acts in similar manner to the shareholders at an annual meeting, and elects each year eight directors to the board for a three year term. The twenty-four member Board of Directors then chooses from its own membership the senior operating officials of the Order, including the Supreme Knight. The current Supreme Knight is Carl Anderson.
Hierarchy descending from the Supreme Knight include State Deputies leading State Councils in each geographical state in the United States, each province in Canada and other jurisdictions carved out of member countries and territories; Territorial Deputies leading areas not yet incorporated into State Councils; District Deputies overseeing several Councils; and a Grand Knight heading each local Council in a specific geographic area. Councils are numbered in the order in which they chartered into the organization and are named by the local membership. San Salvador Council #1, in New Haven, Connecticut, still exists today. The Knights have ceremonial uniforms, and a variety of closed-door rituals and traditions.
A similar organisation exists in IrelandThe island of Ireland ire in Irish, Airlann in Ulster Scots) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies on the west side of the Irish Sea, close to the island of Great Britain. It is composed of the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Irelan, known as the Knights of Columbanus after the Irish saint Columbanus, also known as Columban.
1 Political activities
In the United States, the Knights of Columbus adopts social conservativeSocial conservatism is a belief in traditional morality and social mores and the desire to preserve these in present day society, often through civil law or regulation. Social change is generally regarded as suspect, while social values based on tradition positions on many political issues, campaigning against abortionAbortion in its most common usage, refers to the destruction of an embryo and its removal from the uterus. Medically, the term also refers to the early termination of a pregnancy by natural causes ("spontaneous abortion" or miscarriage, which ends one in, same-sex marriage, and use of the First Amendment by the courts to promote secularism in schools and government. In 1954, lobbying by the organization convinced the United States Congress to add the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance recited daily by most American schoolchildren.
