Faith. Discipleship. Brotherhood.
Knights of Columbus #11354
Who are the Knights?
Father Michael J. McGivney was an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn in the late 1800s where a teeming Irish American and immigrant Catholic population faced many hardships. He witnessed families left destitute as many fathers suffered early death driven by the dangerous work conditions in the industrializing United States. The Knights of Columbus was founded in the basement of his church on October 2, 1881 when he proposed a lay organization to help families in their community and support their temporal needs. The group received official corporate status on March 29th, 1882 with the stated principles of Charity, Unity, and Fraternity.
Today, The Knights of Columbus is a global organization with over 2 million members and is the largest Catholic fraternal benefit society. The Supreme organization also provides various programs to support evangelization like Church loans, Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP), Scholarships, and fee free charitable work. In 2020, Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing a miracle attribution to Father McGivney opening a path to his beatification and subsequently given the title of Blessed Father Michael McGivney.
St. Catharine of Siena
Father McGivney’s legacy lives on in our parish with over 120 registered members in Council 11354. We are proud to be an integral community organization that takes responsibly for some of the most well-known parish events like the Lenten Fish Fry, Christmas Tree Lot, Supper Bowl, and golf outing. You will also see Knights supporting various parish activities like Fun Fest, Fall Family Festival, Feast of St. Catharine, and Corpus Christi. Behind the scenes, our council provides charitable support to many ministries, seminarians, and disaster relief efforts in communities outside our own.
Our work is not just external. We recognize that as Catholic lay men, we are called to be “Priests of our Household” where our example must be to raise families in the image of Christ’s teachings. The principle of Fraternity requires a recognition that none of us is as good alone as all of us are together. Our council strives to fill your spiritual cup as much as we pour out to those that depend on us. “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)
Join Us
Council meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday of each month at 7:30pm in the Sorohan Center. Members are invited to stay around after the meeting to share conversation, play cards, watch sports, and built community. We recognize that time is a valuable and limited resource, so Knights are encouraged to participate at the level their situation permits. Ultimately, we hope to leverage each Knight’s unique skills to build a thriving community that leads men and families to a vibrant relationship with Christ.