When Father
Michael gathered his exceptional staff, his driving ambition was to set up
a parish-based lay organization that offered insurance benefits.
Father McGivney was driven by the vision of both strengthening the
religious faith of his flock and providing financial support for families
overwhelmed by illness or the death of the breadwinner.
Today we have grown from the
basement of St. Mary's in 1882 to nearly 12,500 councils in the United
States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican
Republic, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, Guam and
Saipan. Holy Father McGivney is now helping via the Knights of Columbus
network many families around with world.
Membership of the Knights of
Columbus comprises over 1.68 million dues-paying members plus their
families - a total of approximately 5 million people on the global Knights
of Columbus team. Many of our Knights of Columbus team members are actively
involved in volunteer service programs for the Catholic Church, their
communities, their families, young people and one another. We are dedicated
to the spirit of Catholic service as exemplified by our founder Father
Michael J. McGivney.
The core values of the Knights of
Columbus, at all levels of the organization, are charity, Catholic works
and volunteerism. In 2003 alone Knights of Columbus members contributed a
record high aggregate of $130 million to charitable efforts and volunteered
more than 61 million hours of personal service to the Catholic Church,
community projects and youth programs. The figures just quoted are
from activity reports received from 73 percent of Knights of Coumbus
councils, Fourth Degree assemblies, Columbian Squires circles and other
jurisdictional entities responding to the Knights' annual Survey of
Fraternal Activity.
In the time period of 1994 to 2004,
the Knights gave more than $1.1 billion and volunteered 545 million hours
in service to the Church and community. Independent Sector estimates
put a dollar value of $17.19 on every service volunteer hour freely given
by each Knight in 2003. Using that figure, the total hours of Knights
of Columbus volunteer service (545 million hours in 2003) was worth $9.3
billion!.
Over the years, Father McGivney's
original system of fraternal benefits has grown into a current day
top-quality life insurance society, offering a variety of policy plans to
members and their families. Both A. M. Best Co. and Standard &
Poor's rate Knights of Columbus insurance "Superior" - A++ and AAA,
respectively - the highest designations given by these highly regarded
industry rating firms.
The Knights of Columbus, the
world's largest organization of Catholic men and their families, is known
to be "the strong right arm of the Church," and has been cited by
Popes, Presidents and other world leaders for its unwavering support of the
Church, for programs of evangelization and Catholic education, for civic
involvement and aid to those in need.
"Protecting Families for
Generations" is the motto that captures the Knights' adherence to the
legacy of its founder and fidelity to the vision of the great Father
Michael J. McGivney. |
