A recent benchmark analysis showed that Catholic-screened investments can compete with unscreened indexes — illustrating that ethical investing doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing returns. As pioneers in Catholic investing, we’re not surprised. We’ll keep delivering value with values. Read the full report for the details.
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A Sacred Heart pilgrim icon is pictured during a K of C Pilgrim Icon prayer service organized by Friar Council 5787 at St. Dominic Chapel at Providence College in Rhode Island. The feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, observed this year on June 27, will be preceded by an Orderwide novena.
3 For the greater glory of God
We pledge our prayers and support for Pope Leo XIV, as he calls the Church to missionary renewal in Christ.
By Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly
4 Learning the faith, living the faith
Amid the anxieties of life, the Lord invites us to seek him in the stillness of our heart.
By Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori
6 Building the Domestic Church
A series of columns on family life, leadership and financial stewardship
Knights of Columbus leaders attend Pope Francis’ funeral and honor his legacy of charity and fraternity, recalling his support.
By Columbia staff
PLUS: ‘Dear Friends...’ – Pope Francis conveys to the board of directors his esteem for the Order’s mission and support for the Church.
Knights of Columbus celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from North America.
• Universal Shepherd – From Chicago to Peru to Rome, Robert Prevost’s life reflects the Augustinian pursuit of truth, charity and communion.
• ‘In The One Christ, We Are One’ – Pope Leo XIV emphasizes love and unity in Christ as he begins his Petrine ministry.
An interview with Jesuit Father Cristóbal Fones about the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Thanks in part to the Order’s efforts, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Catholic schools and parental rights 100 years ago.
By Ed Langlois
26 Knights in Action Reports from councils and assemblies, representing Faith in Action ON THE COVER Pope Leo XIV bows in prayer on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election May 8.
Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to men 18 years of age or older who are practical (that is, practicing) Catholics in union with the Holy See. This means that an applicant or member accepts the teaching authority of the Catholic Church on matters of faith and morals, aspires to live in accord with the precepts of the Catholic Church, and is in good standing in the Catholic Church. kofc.org/join
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FATHER ROBERT PREVOST spent much of his priestly life wearing the black habit of the Order of St. Augustine. Raised in the south side of Chicago and a fan of the White Sox, he no doubt embraced the major league baseball team’s slogan, popularized in the 1990s: “Good Guys Wear Black.” Upon his election as the 266th successor of St. Peter on May 8, he traded in his habit — as well as the cardinal red he had worn since late 2023 — for the white cassock of the papacy, and he took a new name: Leo XIV. Nonetheless, the Holy Father confirmed that he did not leave his spiritual patronage behind. Before giving his first blessing Urbi et Orbi (to the Church and the world), he declared, “I am an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine, who once said, ‘With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.’ In this sense, all of us can journey together toward the homeland that God has prepared for us.”
The spiritual legacy of St. Augustine is difficult to summarize, even if Augustinian spirituality is simple at its core. As a bishop in North Africa during the decline of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, Augustine was one of the most influential and prolific defenders of the Catholic faith. Pope Leo XIII, who inspired the new Holy Father’s name, argued that St. Augustine was unmatched in his philosophical scope and impact. In Aeterni Patris, his 1879 encyclical on the restoration of Christian philosophy, Leo XIII asked, “What topic of philosophy did he not investigate? What region of it did he not diligently explore, either in expounding the loftiest mysteries of the faith to the faithful, or defending them against the full onslaught of adversaries?”
The lasting relevance of St. Augustine’s insightful teachings are reflected in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where he is cited more than any other saint or Christian author — more than even the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. It’s remarkable that Augustine’s most celebrated work during his lifetime, and still today, is not one of his great theological treatises but his spiritual autobiography, the Confessions. Looking back at all his writings toward the end of his life, he asked, “Which of my works succeeded more often in being known and loved than the books of my Confessions?” St. John Paul II, in a 1986 apostolic letter marking the 1,600th anniversary of Augustine’s conversion, noted, “History has never contradicted this judgment, but has amply confirmed it.”
The enduring popularity of the Confessions can be attributed in part to Augustine’s being not only a teacher but an authentic witness of the faith. In his honest pursuit of timeless truth, he discovers a “Beauty ever ancient, ever new,” and his restless heart ultimately finds rest in the heart of Christ. Pope Francis, in his final encyclical, Dilexit Nos, asserted, “St. Augustine opened the way to devotion to the Sacred Heart as the locus of our personal encounter with the Lord. For Augustine, Christ’s wounded side is not only the source of grace and the sacraments, but also the symbol of our intimate union with Christ, the setting of an encounter of love” (103). St. Augustine, the Doctor of Grace — and Pope Leo, his spiritual son — thus direct us to the heart of it all: our vocation to love, born from communion with the living God. B
Alton J. Pelowski, Editor
This month, the Church celebrates the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27. Knights of Columbus and their families are invited to grow closer to Christ by placing an image of his Sacred Heart in a place of honor in their homes. The ceremony of enthronement contained in this K of C booklet, also available in Spanish and French, is a powerful way for families to reflect on how much Jesus loves them. For more information or to purchase, visit kofc.org/sacredheart or kofc.org/shopcis .
PUBLISHER
Knights of Columbus
SUPREME OFFICERS
Patrick E. Kelly
Supreme Knight
Most Rev. William E. Lori, S.T.D.
Supreme Chaplain
Arthur L. Peters
Deputy Supreme Knight
John A. Marrella
Supreme Secretary
Ronald F. Schwarz
Supreme Treasurer
John A. Marrella
Supreme Advocate
EDITORIAL
Alton J. Pelowski
Editor
Andrew J. Matt
Managing Editor
Elisha Valladares-Cormier
Senior Editor
Megan Stibley
Associate Editor
Paul Haring
Manager of Photography
Cecilia Engbert Content Producer
Blessed Michael McGivney (1852-90) – Apostle to the Young, Protector of Christian Family Life and Founder of the Knights of Columbus, Intercede for Us.
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We pledge our prayers and support for Pope Leo XIV, as he calls the Church to missionary renewal in Christ
By Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly
IN RECENT WEEKS , I had the great privilege of representing the Knights of Columbus at both the funeral of Pope Francis (April 26) and the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV (May 18). Together with hundreds of thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square and countless more watching around the world, I prayed for the soul of Pope Francis and mourned his loss, even as I welcomed with great joy and prayed for Pope Leo XIV.
In the first days of his pontificate, Pope Leo signaled themes that will likely shape his Petrine ministry. When he emerged on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica after his election on May 8, his first words were, “Peace be with all of you!” These words of the risen Christ, he said, should “resound in our hearts, in our families and among all people.” Recalling the legacy of Pope Francis, the Holy Father urged us to move forward without fear, “hand in hand with God and with one another!”
Pope Leo evoked the image of a missionary Church — one that builds bridges and remains “ever open to welcoming … all those who are in need of our charity, our presence, our readiness to dialogue and our love.”
Addressing the 1.4 billion Catholics he now leads, he quoted St. Augustine: “With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.”
The next morning, at Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the cardinal-electors, the Holy Father reflected more deeply on what it means to be a missionary Church in our time. He spoke candidly about the challenges: “There are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent — settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure.” These are places, he added, “where it is not easy to preach the Gospel and bear witness to the truth, where believers are mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied. Yet these are precisely the
places where the missionary outreach of the Church is desperately needed.”
So how do we respond, as Christians and as a Church? The answer, Pope Leo said, is Jesus Christ — to have a personal relationship with the Lord and a daily commitment to conversion. The Church, he said, must be a “beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world — not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings, but rather through the holiness of her members.”
Pope Leo took his name in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who was supreme pontiff when Blessed Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882. Leo XIII’s landmark encyclical Rerum Novarum, published in 1891, addressed the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution and social concerns that helped inspire our founding.
Two days after Pope Leo XIV’s election, he told the College of Cardinals that the papacy is a yoke that is “clearly far beyond my own limited powers, as it would be for any of us.” However, he trusts the Lord will not abandon him and knows he can count on the prayers of “so many who love the Church and support the Vicar of Christ.”
Indeed, our new Holy Father can count on the loyalty and prayers of the Knights of Columbus — now and always. In solidarity with him, I invite all Knights, their families, and people of goodwill to join in a special novena for the pope and his intentions. It will begin on June 19, the anniversary of Pope Leo’s priestly ordination, and conclude June 27, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I will bring the submitted petitions to Rome during a Jubilee pilgrimage this October.
Let us pray for His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, that the Lord may grant him a spirit of courage, wisdom and strength to lead those entrusted to his care, for many years to come.
Vivat Jesus!
How do we respond, as Christians and as a Church? The answer, Pope Leo said, is Jesus Christ — to have a personal relationship with the Lord and a daily commitment to conversion.
Amid the anxieties of life, the Lord invites us to seek him in the stillness of our heart
By Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori
I HAVE TO ADMIT IT: I felt some anxiety during last month’s papal election. Perhaps I had listened to too many pundits and the election seemed unpredictable. When I heard there was “white smoke,” I turned on my TV. Sitting alone and waiting to learn the result, I realized that I needed to be with others. So I walked across the street to my office building where, before long, 40 or 50 people gathered to watch and wait.
When the announcement was made, my anxiety dissipated, and I rejoiced. Pope Leo was an inspired choice. But there was still much to do — drafting a public statement, doing media interviews, celebrating a Mass of thanksgiving, and more. In the meantime, calls and emails from friends and coworkers came pouring in.
By day’s end, I was tired and thought I’d sleep soundly. But after a few hours, I awakened, still keyed up. I knew I had to center myself. I knew I needed my daily Holy Hour more than ever. There were just too many competing thoughts, questions and desires welling up in my mind and heart. I needed to be quiet and calm.
The next morning, sitting in the chapel of my residence, I was tempted to check out what was being said about Pope Leo. Meanwhile, I continued to receive many email and text messages. But with God’s grace, I put it all aside. It was high time to shut it all down and enter into the Lord’s presence. Sitting there in silence, I understood that competing worries and desires were overwhelming the one thing I should desire the most — to enter into the Lord’s presence, to place myself, my ministry, my life, and my Church in the hands of the One who loves us most and loves us best. In a word, I needed solitude and prayer.
Quiet prayer is not merely a technique for overcoming anxiety, nor a way to acquire a stiff upper lip that masks one’s true feel -
ings. In prayer, we lay at God’s feet all that roils us and all the desires that compete for our attention. Even while at prayer, we may often find ourselves fighting distractions and the same desires that beguile us all day long. When that happens, I find it helpful to repeat a simple phrase from Psalm 62: “My soul, be at rest in God alone.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us to go into our “inner room” to pray (6:6). The room Jesus refers to is our heart and soul, that place where we are alone with God (cf. Gaudium et Spes , 16). While warning us against making a public display of our piety, Jesus urges us to pray in secret because he also knows we need a sanctuary, a place of refuge. When a hurricane or tornado is approaching, we’re told to go to a safe place in the house, like a small interior room or hallway. Our inner self should be like that: a place where we can shelter, if only briefly, from life’s stormy weather — the storms that hit us from the outside and the ones we ourselves generate.
To be clear, retreating into our inner room, quieting our soul and resting in the Lord, is not an avoidance technique — a way of hiding out or shirking responsibility. Rather, when we quiet our souls and ask for the grace to desire God alone, then we gain the wisdom to evaluate those competing desires that come our way, to sort out which are of God and which are not. As the peace of Christ takes root in us and our trust in God’s love and compassion increases, we find the courage to take a good, honest look at ourselves. We begin to see ourselves as God sees us and others may see us.
My former seminary rector, the late Archbishop Harry J. Flynn, used to say: “Give me an hour before the Blessed Sacrament and eight hours of sleep, and I’ll do anything the Church asks of me.” That’s good advice, don’t you think? B
When a hurricane or tornado is approaching, we’re told to go to a safe place in the house, like a small interior room or hallway. Our inner self
should be like that: a place where we can shelter, if only briefly, from life’s stormy weather.
A monthly reflection and practical challenge from Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.” (Gospel for June 8, Jn 14:15-16)
Last month, we reflected on how Jesus probed Peter three times with the question “Do you love me?” Here we have an answer to what it means to truly love Jesus — by keeping his commandments, as expressed in Scripture and in the teachings of the Church. The monthly challenge for March underscored how our faith bears fruit in what we do. Let us remember that to keep the commandments for love of Christ is to allow the Holy Spirit to bear good fruits in our lives.
Challenge: This month, I challenge you to use the Catholic Information Service resource A Guide to Confession, which is organized around the Ten Commandments, to examine your conscience and then go to confession.
IMPRISONED IN THE Nazi concentration camps of Sachsenhausen and Dachau, Stanisław Kostka Starowieyski — a decorated Polish army veteran and Catholic leader — became an unwavering source of strength and hope to those who suffered alongside him. “Have mercy, Lord,” he wrote, “and let me, who am drowning, save others from the depths.”
Born in southeastern Poland to a devout, aristocratic family, Starowieyski was formed by a Jesuit education and a Catholic upbringing rooted in social action. He began law studies in Kraków in 1914, but they were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I . He joined the Austro-Hungarian army and, after Poland regained independence in 1918, served in the Polish army for seven years.
In 1921, Starowieyski married Maria Szeptycka — niece of Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky and of Venerable Andrey Sheptytsky, leaders of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The couple raised their six children on their family farm, while Starowieyski organized
retreats, pilgrimages and Catholic Action initiatives to address social and economic needs.
After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939, Starowieyski was targeted as a lay Catholic leader. Arrested by Soviet troops, he escaped — only to be seized by the Gestapo in German-occupied Poland in June 1940. In the camps, he became known as an apostle of mercy, offering food, prayer and encouragement to his fellow prisoners. After a brutal beating on Good Friday, he died on April 13, 1941 — Easter Sunday.
Pope John Paul II beatified Stanisław Kostka Starowieyski in 1999 as one of the 108 Polish martyrs of World War II. Their feast day is June 12. B
June 1 Ascension Sunday
June 3 St. Charles Lwanga and Companions
June 5 St. Boniface
June 8 Pentecost Sunday
June 9 Mary, Mother of the Church
June 11 St. Barnabas
June 13 St. Anthony of Padua
June 15 The Most Holy Trinity
June 21 St. Aloysius Gonzaga
June 22 The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi)
June 24 The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
June 27 The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
June 28 The Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June 29 Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles
Let us pray that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his Heart, learn to have compassion on the world.
By Andrew Abela LEAD
“Gentlefirmness” is a virtue for dealing with anger — and one that all leaders, especially parents, should develop. You’ve likely never heard the word before — because I made it up.
The virtue’s real name is meekness, which many interpret as submissiveness or passivity. Yet, as we know Christ is “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29, meekness is better defined as the habit of controlling one’s anger to remain simultaneously firm and gentle.
Like most virtues, gentlefirmness is the mean between two extremes. Overcontrolling anger represses the emotion, leading one to believe there’s nothing to be angry about, or that it’s wrong to be angry. Undercontrolling results in explosive anger. Both are harmful and counterproductive.
To grow in gentlefirmness, allow yourself to experience your anger, and use it as energy to stand firm, while remaining calm. Do the things you were taught: breathe deeply; pause until you calm down; ask the Holy Spirit to guide you — and recognize that you are starting to build a habit.
Sooner than you might expect, you will find it easier to respond to anger, and you’ll be practicing the Christian virtue of gentlefirmness. B
— Andrew Abela, Ph.D., is the founding dean of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. A member of Padre Pio Council 10754 in Great Falls, Va., he is the author of Superhabits (2024).
Fatherhood is a slow cultivation of virtue and love, bearing fruit in due season
By Mike Phelan
FATHERHOOD IS NOT flashy. If we were all still farmers in a simpler time, this would perhaps not bother us so much. The work-to-reward ratio in farming is significant. Till, sow, fertilize, harvest, eat. Repeat.
Fatherhood is like that. Pray, feed, play, discipline, teach, love, encourage — all in the hopes of harvesting an adult who is, God-willing, strong, responsible, virtuous and who loves you back. But in a digital world of instant gratification — measured by views, likes and shares — waiting to reap the rewards of fatherly labor can be difficult.
The richness of the reward makes the work, in the end, laughably small in comparison. But there is no shiny trophy, no formal recognition. Rather, it is often a subtle reward that fills our lives with profound meaning.
I remember vividly one such moment with our third son, Liam. Together with other dads and sons and one remarkable priest, we hiked down into the Grand Canyon — over 10 miles each direction. At age 11, Liam hiked with buddies on his own; I barely saw him. I don’t even like hiking, but we do these things because we love our children, and we’re “farming.”
On the last night of our campout, as the sun had nearly set and the stars began showing their unmuted glory, our priest led us dads in a fatherly blessing over our sons. Liam grew very quiet as Scriptures were read, and when we placed our hands on our boys’ heads in prayer, he began to breathe hoarsely. “I love you, son,” I said. “I bless you. I bless you in the name of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Sp—” Completely unexpectedly, my son did not let me quite finish. He surged forward, hugged me fiercely, and wouldn’t let go for what felt like a full two minutes.
Suddenly, any thought of the blisters on my feet, tiredness, the wondering if anything I did resonated in his heart, disappeared. Here was a blessing, part of the fatherly reward.
Not flashy, but far more meaningful than any award for a mantle or trophy case. Fast forward to today, and this son will marry a wonderful young woman this month. And it is even more evident to me now that the work of fatherhood is a molehill; the reward from God, a mountain. Here’s to farming. B
MIKE PHELAN is director of fraternal leadership development for the Knights of Columbus and a member of Father Marcel Salinas Council 11536 in Mesa, Ariz. He and his wife, Sharon, have six children.
By Robert Adams FAMILY FINANCE
Fathers play a pivotal role in helping their children develop good habits, including a healthy relationship with money. They can lead by example and teach lessons they learned the hard way.
In celebration of Father’s Day, here are 10 pieces of advice I’ve learned to help dads teach their children how to be wise with money.
1. Set a budget and live within your means.
2. Set financial goals with both shortand long-term visions.
3. Understand that compound interest
can work for you (such as when you consistently invest), or against you (as in the case of debt).
4. With each paycheck, set aside money to save or invest, and give 10% of your earnings to charity, including to the Church.
5. Reduce expenses by eating meals at home, especially as a family.
6. Investing in well-made products might be more expensive at first but can provide better value over time.
7. Prepare for the future and protect loved ones by having insurance policies before unexpected events (illness, disabilities, premature death) occur.
8. Meditate on Scripture (e.g., Mt 6:1934) in times of financial stress.
9. Appreciate what you have — gratitude, more than money, leads to more happiness.
Carrying the cross of infertility with Christ can become a path to unexpected gifts
By Leigh and Carter Snead
TO US, MARRIAGE has felt like one really long date. Even after 27 years, our favorite thing is just being together. It’s been so good that it’s easy to forget all the years we spent trying, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant. Ultimately, the cross of infertility has served to strengthen our marriage and deepen our love and appreciation of the gift we are to each other. For couples living through a season, or maybe a lifetime, of infertility, we humbly offer guidance based on lessons we have learned along the way:
Remember that you and your spouse became a family on your wedding day. We have the habit of using the word “family” in the context of children, but by virtue of your marriage, you are a family, here and now.
When you’re feeling the weight of infertility, do something fruitful. Share the gifts of your family with others. If you’re up to it emotionally, why not offer to babysit so your friends can have a night out. Invite a single friend (or a priest!) to dinner. Call your mother!
10. Recognize the most valuable things in life cannot be bought.
I hope these inspire you to start your own conversations with your children! For additional resources and to share your own words of wisdom, visit kofc.org/familyfinance B
— Robert Adams, a field performance specialist, has worked with Knights of Columbus for over 35 years. He lives in Arlington Heights, Ill., where he is a member of Holy Rosary Council 4483.
Know what the Church teaches. When seeking medical answers, make sure you understand which treatments are permissible. If possible, seek a Catholic physician who will treat you holistically without any spiritual stumbling blocks. Make time for romance. Yes, it’s cliché, but for good reason! Spend time with the one you love. Remember why you wanted to have children with this person in the first place. Discern a call to adoption. Pursuing parenthood through adoption does not mean you’re giving up on ever conceiving a child; you can absolutely do both. We never did conceive and never really found out why; but if we had, we might not have our four wonderful sons, ages 3 to 20 — all ours through the beautiful gift of adoption. B
LEIGH FITZPATRICK SNEAD is a fellow with the Catholic Association. CARTER SNEAD, a longtime member of the Knights, is the Charles E. Rice Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. They live in nearby Granger with their sons.
Above: More than 250,000 mourners attend the funeral Mass of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 26. • Inset: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re incenses the coffin of Pope Francis during the funeral liturgy. • From left: Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori kneels in prayer before the wooden coffin of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 25. • Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly prays at the tomb of Pope Francis in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on April 28. The tomb lies between the Sforza and Pauline chapels, near the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani, before which the pope frequently prayed. • Top right: Pope Francis greets a woman during his visit to Bañado Norte, a poor neighborhood in Asunción, Paraguay, July 12, 2015.
Knights of Columbus leaders attend Pope Francis’ funeral and honor his legacy of charity and fraternity, recalling his support
By Columbia staff
Pope Francis made his final public appearance on Easter Sunday, April 20, delivering his Urbi et Orbi message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square. Greeting the gathered crowd with “Buona Pasqua!” (Happy Easter!), he then asked Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, to read the message aloud.
“Christ is risen! These words capture the whole meaning of our existence, for we were not made for death but for life,” the pope declared in what became his final words to the world. “Easter is the celebration of life! God created us for life and wants the human family to rise again! In his eyes, every life is precious!”
He died the next morning at age 88 in his Vatican residence at Casa Santa Marta. In a statement on Easter Monday, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly reflected on Pope Francis’ enduring witness of charity and fraternity — to the world and specifically to the Knights of Columbus.
“The more than 2.1 million Knights of Columbus around the world join Catholics and people of all faiths today as we mourn the death of our Holy Father Pope Francis,” the supreme knight said. “Pope Francis was a powerful witness to charity and fraternity, calling us from his first days as pope to reach out to the margins of society and serve those who are too often forgotten.”
He added, “Pope Francis was also very supportive of our efforts to help Catholic men be better husbands and fathers and take up co-responsibility for the Church’s mission of evangelization.”
A memorial Mass for Pope Francis was celebrated in Baltimore on April 21 by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori. In his homily, the supreme chaplain recalled that the pope had declared 2025 to be “a Jubilee of Hope, a time of prayer and grace to deepen our hope in Christ.”
“He called us to be pilgrims of hope, who journey resolutely, even amid the sadness and setbacks of this world, toward the heavenly Jerusalem where Christ is seated at God’s right hand,” Archbishop Lori continued. “The heart of hope is the death and resurrection of Christ. And it is in the midst of the Church’s celebration of Christ’s victory over death that Pope Francis passed from this life to the next.”
On April 26, Supreme Knight Kelly and Archbishop Lori joined more than 250,000 faithful in St. Peter’s Square for the pope’s funeral Mass. The supreme chaplain was among hundreds of concelebrating bishops and priests, as Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided and delivered the homily. Following the funeral, Pope Francis was laid to rest in a private ceremony at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, becoming the first pope in more than 300 years to be buried outside St. Peter’s Basilica.
“It was a beautiful tribute to Pope Francis, but at the same time, it was a moment when we sought God’s mercy upon us all,” Archbishop Lori said in an interview with the Catholic
from top left: Pope Francis visits Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery on June 30, 2015. • The Holy Father kisses a child during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 23, 2019. • Pope Francis delivers an extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing with the monstrance during a prayer service in the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica on March 27, 2020. The event was livestreamed worldwide with support from the Knights of Columbus.
Review, the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. “We pray for Pope Francis, but we also sought Pope Francis’ prayers for us.”
The pope’s tomb, inscribed with the name FRANCISCUS , lies in a side nave between the Sforza and Pauline chapels, near the ancient icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani (Mary, Help of the Roman People). He frequently prayed before this image, including before and after each of his apostolic journeys.
Throughout his 12-year pontificate, the Knights of Columbus drew inspiration from the pope’s call for the faithful to go out to the peripheries. In an interview with EWTN following the funeral, Supreme Knight Kelly reflected on his personal encounters with the Holy Father and on the pope’s appreciation for the Knights’ mission.
The Knights of Columbus and Pope Francis shared many priorities, he said, from evangelization to support for the unborn and those in most need. “All of this really touched Pope Francis’ heart,” the supreme knight added, “because it was helping the vulnerable.”
Supreme Knight Kelly met privately with the Holy Father five times since his election as supreme knight in 2021.
“Pope Francis had a wonderful sense of humor, and he loved to laugh,” he said.
The supreme knight also recalled an encouraging farewell at the end of one of their meetings: “He gave us a blessing and said, ‘Go on, keep doing what you’re doing. It’s hard, but keep it up!’” B
Pope Francis conveys to the board of directors his esteem for the Order’s mission and support for the Church
ON TWO OCCASIONS, Pope Francis addressed the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors and their families during an audience in the Vatican. The first took place Oct. 10, 2013, in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, just seven months after his election as pope; the second took place nearly a decade later, in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel, during the board’s February 2020 pilgrimage to Rome in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Order’s service there. Below are the full texts of the Holy Father’s remarks.
Dear Friends, I am pleased to welcome the Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus on the occasion of your meeting in Rome. I thank you once again for the prayers which you, and all the Knights and their families, have offered for my intentions and the needs of the Church throughout the world since my election as Bishop of Rome.
On this occasion I also wish to express my gratitude for the unfailing support which your Order has always given to the works of the Holy See. This support finds particular expression in the Vicarius Christi Fund, which is an eloquent sign of your solidarity with the Successor of Peter in his concern for the universal Church, but it is also seen in the daily prayers, sacrifices and apostolic works of so many Knights in their local councils, their parishes and their communities. May prayer, witness to the faith and concern for our brothers and sisters in need always be the pillars supporting your work both individually and corporately. In fidelity to the vision of the Venerable Father Michael McGivney, may you continue to seek new ways of being a leaven of the Gospel and a force for the spiritual renewal of society.
As the present Year of Faith draws to its close, I commend all of you in a special way to the intercession of Saint Joseph, the protector of the Holy Family of Nazareth, who is an admirable model of those manly virtues of quiet strength, integrity and fidelity which the Knights of Columbus are committed to preserving, cultivating and passing on to future generations of Catholic men.
Asking a remembrance in your prayers, and with great affection in the Lord, I now willingly impart to you, and to all the Knights and their families, my apostolic blessing. – Pope Francis, Oct. 10, 2013
Dear Friends, I offer you a warm welcome on the occasion of your pilgrimage to Rome in this year that marks the centennial of the charitable activity of the Knights of Columbus in this city. In fact, it was one hundred years ago that my predecessor Pope Benedict XV invited the Knights of Columbus to provide
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly presents Pope Francis with a firstclass relic of Blessed Michael McGivney during a private audience on Oct. 25, 2021. The Mass of beatification had taken place one year earlier, on Oct. 31, 2020, following the Holy Father’s approval of a miracle attributed to Father McGivney’s intercession.
humanitarian aid to young people and others in Rome following the terrible conflict of the First World War. The Knights responded generously, establishing sports centers for youth that quickly became places for education, catechesis and the distribution of food and other essentials so needed at that time. In this way, your Order proved faithful to the vision of your founder, Venerable Michael McGivney, who was inspired by the principles of Christian charity and fraternity to assist those most in need.
Today the Knights of Columbus continue their work of evangelical charity and fraternity in a variety of fields. I think in particular of your faithful witness to the sacredness and dignity of human life, evident at both the local and national levels. This conviction has also led the Knights of Columbus to aid, both materially and spiritually, those Christian communities in the Middle East that are suffering the effects of violence, war and poverty. I thank all the members of your Order for seeing in our persecuted and displaced brothers and sisters of that region neighbors for whom you are a sign of God’s infinite love.
Since its foundation, the Knights of Columbus has demonstrated its unswerving devotion to the Successor of Peter. The establishment of the Vicarius Christi Fund is a testimony to this devotion, as well as to the desire of the Knights to share in the Pope’s solicitude for all the Churches and in his universal mission of charity. In our world, marked by divisions and inequalities, the generous commitment of your Order to serve all in need offers, especially to young people, an important inspiration to overcome a globalization of indifference and build together a more just and inclusive society.
Dear brothers and sisters, with these thoughts and sentiments, I entrust you to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I offer my prayers for the members of the Knights of Columbus and their families, and for the good works accomplished by the local councils worldwide. To all of you present here and to your loved ones, I impart my heartfelt blessing, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you!
– Pope Francis, Feb. 10, 2020
Knights of Columbus celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from North America
By Columbia staff
From the moment he stepped onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on May 8, Pope Leo XIV — formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — made clear from the beginning his vision for a Church united in peace and centered in Jesus Christ.
“Peace be with you all,” the new pope proclaimed in Italian. “Dear brothers and sisters, these are the first words spoken by the risen Christ, the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for God’s flock. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world.
“It is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is unarmed and disarming, humble and persevering. A peace that comes from God, the God who loves us all, unconditionally.”
Pope Leo XIV is the first pope born in the United States and the first member of the Order of St. Augustine ever elected to the papacy. A native of Chicago and a former missionary bishop in Peru, he most recently served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
In his first official address to the College of Cardinals on May 9, Pope Leo spoke of his decision to take the name “Leo,” citing inspiration from Pope Leo XIII and his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed the social impact of industrialization.
“Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV,” he explained.
“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”
Above: Pope Leo XIV leads prayer at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, May 10. The shrine, home to a revered image of Mary, is overseen by the Augustinians, who are also entrusted with promoting devotion to Mary under this title.
Below, clockwise from top left: Pope Leo XIV greets Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, during a meeting with participants in the Jubilee of the Eastern Churches on May 14. • Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful, including pilgrims from the United States, gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his inauguration Mass on May 18. • Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, with his wife, Vanessa, at his side, applauds as the Holy Father reaches the altar in St. Peter’s Square.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly affirmed the Knights of Columbus’ solidarity with Pope Leo in a statement issued shortly after his election on May 8: “I pledge our loyalty to Pope Leo XIV as well as our prayers today and every day of his pontificate. In the years ahead, we will proudly stand with him as we seek together to build up the Kingdom of God.”
Speaking to EWTN, Supreme Knight Kelly reflected on his personal impressions of the new Holy Father: “He’s a very easy person to talk to,” he said of his 2023 meetings with Cardinal Prevost. “I think he’s a very balanced man … and very intelligent. It’s a very, very good thing for the Church, what happened today. … This was a conclave of surprises, I would say, brought to us by a God of surprises.”
The pope’s years as an Augustinian priest and bishop in Peru, the supreme knight said, show that the poor and vulnerable are close to his heart — a priority that resonates with the Knights’ work around the world.
“He has a global view of the Church, so that’s a real advantage he brings,” affirmed the supreme knight, who was also present in St. Peter’s Square on May 18 for Pope Leo’s inauguration Mass, marking the formal beginning of his pontificate. The liturgy was broadcast globally thanks in part to equipment donated by the Knights of Columbus to the Vatican’s Dicastery of Communication. B
From Chicago to Peru to Rome, Robert Prevost’s life reflects the Augustinian pursuit of truth, charity and communion
ROBERT FRANCIS PREVOST, now Pope Leo XIV, was born Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago to Louis and Mildred (Martínez) Prevost. The youngest of three sons, he grew up in a multicultural home — his father of French and Italian descent, his mother of Spanish and Creole roots from New Orleans. As a child, Robert delighted in “playing Mass” with an ironing board and candy wafers, hinting early at a priestly vocation.
He graduated from Villanova University in 1977 with a degree in mathematics and entered the Order of St. Augustine that same year. After professing final vows in 1981, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 and later earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum).
and moral theology. From 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide Augustinian order, based in Rome — leading a global community shaped by the Rule of St. Augustine, which calls members to “live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God, with one heart and one soul.”
Augustinian spirituality, centered on unity, truth and love, deeply shaped his ministry.
“St. Augustine’s teachings touch every part of life,” he said in a 2023 interview. “Unity and communion are essential charisms of the order and a fundamental part of understanding what the Church is and what it means to be in it.”
Clockwise, from top left: Bishop Robert Prevost of Chiclayo, Peru, rides a horse down a dirt road in October 2017. • Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his wife, Vanessa, speak with Cardinal Prevost in the Vatican’s Hall of Blessings on Sept. 30, 2023, following the consistory at which he was created a cardinal. • An undated file photo shows Pope John Paul II greeting then-Augustinian Father Prevost. • A young Robert Prevost is pictured in a yearbook from St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, Mich.
His formative years were marked by missionary service in Peru and teaching roles in seminaries, where he specialized in canon law, patristics
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Father Prevost apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, Peru, and named him bishop a year later — a role he held until his return to Rome in 2023 as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. That same year, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals.
On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Prevost was elected the 267th pope and universal shepherd of the Catholic Church. In his inauguration homily 10 days later, Pope Leo XIV called the 1.4 billion members of his flock to bear witness to peace and unity: “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.” B
Pope Leo XIV emphasizes love and unity in Christ as he begins his Petrine ministry
Editor’s Note: The following is the text of Pope Leo XIV’s homily delivered May 18 in St. Peter’s Square during the Mass inaugurating his pontificate.
Igreet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. St. Augustine wrote: Lord, “you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I: 1,1).
In these days, we have experienced intense emotions. The death of Pope Francis filled our hearts with sadness. In those difficult hours, we felt like the crowds that the Gospel says were “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). Then, on Easter Sunday, we received his final blessing and, in the light of the resurrection, we experienced the days that followed in
the certainty that the Lord never abandons his people, but gathers them when they are scattered and guards them “as a shepherd guards his flock” (Jer 31:10).
In this spirit of faith, the College of Cardinals met for the conclave. Coming from different backgrounds and experiences, we placed in God’s hands our desire to elect the new Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, a shepherd capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future, in order to confront the questions, concerns and challenges of today’s world. Accompanied by your prayers, we could feel the working of the Holy Spirit, who was able to bring us into harmony, like musical instruments, so that our heartstrings could vibrate in a single melody.
by Paul Haring
Pope Leo XIV greets the faithful at the conclusion of his inauguration Mass on May 18. He wore a chasuble once used by St. John Paul II, who was born exactly 105 years earlier, and carried the late pope’s distinctive ferula.
I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother , who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.
Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.
We see this in today’s Gospel, which takes us to the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus began the mission he received from the Father: to be a “fisher” of humanity in order to draw it up from the waters of evil and death. Walking along the shore, he had called Peter and the other first disciples to be, like him, “fishers of men.” Now, after the resurrection, it is up to them to carry on this mission, to cast their nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into the “waters” of the world, to sail the seas of life so that all may experience God’s embrace.
How can Peter carry out this task? The Gospel tells us that it is possible only because his own life was touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God, even in the hour of his failure and denial. For this reason, when Jesus addresses Peter, the Gospel uses the Greek verb agapáo, which refers to the love that God has for us, to the offering of himself without reserve and without calculation. Whereas the verb used in Peter’s response describes the love of friendship that we have for one another.
Consequently, when Jesus asks Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (Jn 21:16), he is referring to the love of the Father. It is as if Jesus said to him, “Only if you have known and experienced this love of God, which never fails, will you be able to feed my lambs. Only in the love of God the Father will you be able to love your brothers and sisters with that same ‘more’, that is, by offering your life for your brothers and sisters.”
“I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love.”
Peter is thus entrusted with the task of “loving more” and giving his life for the flock. The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.
The Apostle Peter himself tells us that Jesus “is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, and has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11). Moreover, if the rock is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pet 5:3). On the contrary, he is called to serve the faith of his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them, for all of us are “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity. In the words of St. Augustine: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor” (Serm. 359,9).
Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.
In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one. This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!
This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.
Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion “were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?” (Rerum Novarum, 20).
With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.
Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk toward God and love one another. B
An interview with Jesuit Father Cristóbal Fones about the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
“Devotion to Christ’s heart is essential for our Christian life to the extent that it expresses our openness in faith and adoration to the mystery of the Lord’s divine and human love,” Pope Francis wrote in his last encyclical, Dilexit Nos (“He loved us”), published Oct. 24, 2024 .
One day earlier, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and other Supreme Officers gathered for a votive Mass of the Sacred Heart at Rome’s Church of the Gesù, celebrated by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori. The Order announced its sponsorship of the restoration of the church’s Sacred Heart Chapel and Pompeo Batoni’s 1767 painting of the Sacred Heart — a project that was completed in spring 2025.
The Batoni image also serves as the centerpiece of the current Knights of Columbus Pilgrim Icon Program, which officially launched in January 2025 with 300 blessed icons traveling through jurisdictions Orderwide.
These initiatives — together with the encyclical — coincide with the 350th anniversary of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s visions of the Sacred Heart, which culminated in June 1675 with Christ’s request for a feast in honor of his heart. They also reflect a shared mission with the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network — formerly the Apostleship of Prayer — which, since the late 19th century, has promoted devotion to the Heart of Jesus, prayer for the pope’s intentions, and the daily spiritual offering of one’s life in union with Christ.
Photo by Paul Haring
Right: Iaian Blamey (left), a member of St. John XXIII Council 5987 in Monroe, Conn., and Grand Knight Drew Dillingham of San Salvador Council 1 in New Haven, carry the Sacred Heart pilgrim icon during a Mass and Holy Hour at St. Mary’s Church on Jan. 3. • Opposite page: Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori, joined by other Supreme Officers and K of C leaders, celebrates Mass in the Sacred Heart Chapel of the Church of the Gesù in Rome on Oct. 23, 2024.
In November 2024, Pope Francis appointed Jesuit Father Cristóbal Fones of Chile as the network’s new international director. Father Fones recently spoke with Columbia editor Alton Pelowski about the apostolate’s spiritual legacy and the significance of its mission today.
COLUMBIA: The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (formerly the Apostleship of Prayer) is the Church’s largest prayer group. Can you share a bit about the prayer apostolate’s scope and mission?
FATHER CRISTÓBAL FONES : It all began in 1844 in a Jesuit scholastic community in France that was excited about the work of missionaries, especially in India. Their spiritual director recommended offering their daily duties, studies and sacrifices as a way to collaborate in the missionary work of the Church. They called it the Apostleship of Prayer — praying for others, not just for one’s own needs or those close to me, but for the needs of the Church and the whole world.
It spread fast in France and then to other countries. In the late-19th century, Pope Leo XIII entrusted his own monthly intentions to the Apostleship of Prayer groups. By 1914, Pope Pius X was promoting the reception of Communion for children to foster a closer relationship with Christ. This connected very well with the Apostleship of Prayer, which was attached to the spirituality of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from the outset.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, in fact, belonged to the Apostleship of Prayer, as did her parents, Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin. And she continued to pray for the pope’s intentions after entering the Carmelites. St. Thérèse and St. Francis Xavier are the co-patrons of our network because they are the patrons of missionaries around the world.
So Pope Pius X’s intention of promoting a closer intimacy with the Lord through daily, or at least weekly, Communion led in 1915 to the youth branch of the Apostleship of Prayer called the Eucharistic Crusade, which in 1962 became the Eucharistic Youth Movement.
Most recently, Pope Francis transformed the Apostleship of Prayer from a Jesuit apostolate to a papal initiative called the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. That’s why I was appointed by the Holy Father himself and not by the Father General of the Jesuits. So while it is still a pontifical work entrusted to the Jesuits, it’s now more universal, even as the original mission remains.
There are groups of the Apostleship of Prayer in many parishes, but the Prayer Network is not meant to be just another movement. Any prayer group — any baptized person, in fact —
can participate, as long as they commit to praying for the pope’s monthly intentions and offering their daily lives to the Lord. We are recovering the essence of the original mission in a way that is more accessible and inclusive than ever.
COLUMBIA: You noted that the Prayer Network’s mission has been rooted in devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus since its founding. Can you tell us more about this and the Prayer Network’s “Way of the Heart” formation program introduced in 2019?
FATHER FONES: Devotion to the Sacred Heart is much older than the Apostleship of Prayer. As Pope Francis explained in Dilexit Nos, this devotion has biblical roots and began in the early Church and developed through the Middle Ages.
The devotion to the Sacred Heart is ultimately about a relationship — not just a pious practice, but a spirituality rooted in the person of Jesus. This spirituality has developed over centuries and includes many expressions, but Pope Francis entrusted the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network with a specific path to help people grow in this relationship. It’s called “The Way of the Heart,” and it’s based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
The Way of the Heart is a nine-step spiritual itinerary. The first three steps focus on the heart — the heart of God who loves us; our own hearts, with all our desires and distractions; and the heart of the world, with its suffering and longing. Steps four to six focus on the heart of Christ — how he loves, how he preaches, how he calls us his friends and sends us forth. And the final three steps center on the mission — how we are called to participate in Christ’s own mission of compassion.
This path can be lived out in retreat form or as a daily rhythm. It’s about uniting our hearts to his and recognizing that we are all invited to be apostles of prayer — collaborators in his mission. The monthly intentions of the pope also support this path.
Through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, we are trying to renew the spiritual lives of all the baptized, across all spiritualities and charisms. That’s why we speak of a network, not a movement. We want to draw everyone into this path of relationship with the risen Lord, who still bears his wounds and offers his heart to us.
COLUMBIA: The pope’s monthly prayer intentions have been part of the Church’s life since 1890, the same year Blessed Michael McGivney died. How are the intentions chosen, and how are they affected during a change in pontificate?
FATHER FONES: The monthly intentions are proposed by the Holy Father himself. They reflect the challenges he sees in the world and in the Church, and our role is to help Catholics everywhere pray for those intentions — not just with the pope, but for him. This tradition began when Pope Leo XIII first entrusted his personal intentions to the Apostleship of Prayer, and it continues today.
In 2025, we are still praying with the intentions that Pope Francis chose, and I’ve written to Pope Leo XIV asking him to confirm them as his own. But the important thing is that the pope’s intentions are not just ideas — they are part of a spiritual discernment about where God is calling the Church to focus its prayer and compassion.
Finally, I would ask all your readers to pray for and support Pope Leo XIV. There will always be debate about whether a new pope is “too liberal” or “too conservative,” but that’s not what matters. He is the successor of Peter. Let’s receive him with faith, support him in his ministry, and help him be a true shepherd for our time.
COLUMBIA: The Prayer Network emphasizes that praying for the pope’s intentions isn’t just about words — it should move us to concrete action. How do you encourage Catholics to put their prayers into practice and their faith into action?
FATHER FONES: If we pray sincerely and integrate the monthly intention, something will move inside of us that will transform the world, because these are real challenges.
Every month, we propose some attitudes to accompany the intention — spiritual dispositions we can ask for as a grace. These are available through our “Click To Pray” app. But we don’t want to be overly directive. It’s not our role to say, “You have to go feed the homeless.” Rather, our hope is that your heart is moved to act in some way, big or small.
The important thing is not to multiply activities for the sake of doing more, but to live our ordinary lives as a mission of compassion. When our hearts are connected to the Heart of Christ, we treat others differently. We become more attentive to the needs of our families, our neighbors, even strangers at the supermarket. That’s how transformation begins.
COLUMBIA: Do you find that the Knights’ recent restoration of the Sacred Heart Chapel at the Gesù in Rome and its Sacred Heart Pilgrim Icon Program — not to mention the Cor initiative — resonate with the Prayer Network’s mission?
FATHER FONES: I didn’t know much about the Knights of Columbus until recently, but what I’ve discovered brings me real joy. We can talk and talk, but love must be concrete — not just words, but actions. And that’s what I see in the Knights: concrete deeds centered on Christ.
The restoration of the Sacred Heart Chapel, especially the Batoni painting of Christ offering his heart, is a powerful witness. It’s an image of the risen Lord — still bearing his wounds — offering his heart to others. Some people might focus on the symbol of the heart without focusing on the person of Jesus. But in this image, it’s clearly Jesus himself offering us his heart — the core of who he is.
I’m very glad that the Knights are taking this seriously and helping to pass on not just a religious image or set of practices, but a living relationship with the risen Christ. From what I’ve seen, your organization is well-rooted in Christ and focused on what truly matters. It’s been enriching for me personally to get to know the Knights of Columbus and to see your commitment to Christ and the Church. You’re helping me grow spiritually as well.
“The devotion to the Sacred Heart is ultimately about a relationship — not just a pious practice, but a spirituality rooted in the person of Jesus. ... When our hearts are connected to the Heart of Christ, we treat others differently.”
by Bryce Vickmark
COLUMBIA: What insights from Pope Francis’ final encyclical, Dilexit Nos, might you highlight for Knights and their families seeking spiritual renewal through devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus?
FATHER FONES: First, the encyclical shows clearly that devotion to the Sacred Heart is really about devotion to the person of Christ. It’s not limited to one apparition or time period. Pope Francis draws from many saints and mystics — from St. Margaret Mary to St. Thérèse to St. Charles de Foucauld — to show how this spirituality has shaped the Church through history.
Second, Dilexit Nos gives a renewed understanding of reparation. Historically, reparation was often understood as offering up our sufferings to console the Lord. That’s good and true, but the encyclical goes further. Pope Francis reminds us that the sufferings of Jesus today are found in those who are poor, hungry, imprisoned. He links reparation with the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”
So, reparation is not only about sharing in Christ’s passion, but also about collaborating in his mission. I’m offering my daily works, my daily efforts, and serving and loving those in need, with whom he identifies today. This theological approach, as Pope Francis presents it, is deeply enriching.
COLUMBIA: How can Knights and their families more intentionally join the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network — in their homes, councils, and parishes?
FATHER FONES: First, begin with the daily offering. That’s the core. Offer your day — your prayers, works, joys and sufferings — to God in union with Christ’s heart. Our Click to Pray app includes a simple morning prayer and Gospel reflection to help with that. We also encourage a five-minute pause at midday and, in particular, an evening examen, which is a very important opportunity to reflect on how God has worked in and through us during the day.
Second, gather in community. If Knights’ councils could come together on First Fridays to pray for the monthly intention and share a short reflection or moment of fraternity, that would be beautiful. These moments of shared prayer create unity and deepen our understanding of the intention.
Third, support the Prayer Network’s mission. Many local offices around the world — especially in poorer regions — need help with formation, retreats and outreach. Financial support, when possible, is a real help in spreading this mission globally.
Finally, I encourage retreats on the Way of the Heart. The Prayer Network’s national director in your country would be happy to support local councils and parishes with retreats or presentations. This spirituality can truly enrich what you already live as Knights of Columbus. B
Thanks in part to the Order’s efforts, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Catholic schools and parental rights 100 years ago
By Ed Langlois
It’s recess at Cathedral School in Portland, Oregon. Amid the clamor, a first grader with messy black hair climbs haltingly up the slide. At the top, he lifts his hands in jubilation. But his joy is cut short by a ringing bell. The boy plunges down the chute, lands on his feet, and dashes to join the line of uniformed classmates heading for Mass.
This scene is possible today in Oregon — and throughout the United States — because a century ago, the Knights of Columbus teamed up with local church leaders and a community of women religious to save Catholic schools. In 1922, Oregon passed the Compulsory Education Act — a Ku Klux Klan-backed bill that would have required all children between 8 and 16 to attend public schools. The law posed an existential
threat to Catholic schools and triggered a nationwide debate over parental rights, religious freedom, and state power.
“No more outrageous blow was ever delivered at a great and patriotic institution — the parochial school — than that delivered in Oregon,” wrote Supreme Knight James Flaherty in the January 1923 issue of Columbia . “It is time for plain speech, for if the parochial school goes, what will happen to all Catholic institutions?”
Backed by the Order’s financial and moral support, the case — Pierce v. Society of Sisters — reached the U.S. Supreme Court in late 1924. On June 1, 1925, the justices unanimously struck down the law, affirming parents’ rights to choose religious or private education for their children.
Opposite page: Holy Names Sister Helena of the Cross instructs students in the physics lab at St. Mary’s Academy & College in Portland, Ore., circa 1915. • Below: Klan members march in Ashland, Ore., circa 1920. • Inset: A Rail Splitter Press pamphlet, addressed to then-Supreme Advocate Luke E. Hart, exemplifies the KKK’s anti-Catholic propaganda campaign to eliminate parochial schools.
In 2000, at the case’s 75th anniversary, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley honored the Knights’ role. The ruling, he said, “paved the way for vigorous private and parochial education” and “empowered parents.”
Indeed, while many have tried to sweep the Pierce victory into the dustbin of history, it has remained a cornerstone of legal arguments for educational and religious freedom for a century.
In the years leading up to the Oregon law, a wave of immigration from southern and central Europe had fueled a revival of American nativism. Many new arrivals were Catholic, and their growing presence challenged the dominant Protestant social order. World War I intensified anti-Catholic sentiment, especially as suspicion of German Americans spread to other immigrant communities.
The Ku Klux Klan capitalized on this fear. No longer
limited to the South, the Klan rebranded itself as a national defender of “100% Americanism,” growing to nearly 4 million members in the early 1920s. It gained influence in the North and West by portraying Catholics, Jews, and immigrants as threats to national identity.
One Klan pamphlet described southern Europeans as “the scum of the Mediterranean” and “masses of ignorant, superstitious, religious devotees.” The Klan aligned itself with other anti-Catholic fraternal groups — including the Scottish Rite Masons and the Loyal Orange Lodges — and helped elect sympathetic officials in Oklahoma, Indiana, Colorado, Maine, Texas, and Oregon.
The Knights of Columbus stepped up as the Klan’s most consistent and forceful opponent. Through its Commission on Religious Prejudices, the Order exposed false claims — including the fabricated “Bogus Oath” supposedly sworn by Knights — and championed religious liberty through public statements, publications, and lawsuits.
Catholic schools soon became a primary target. While compulsory public education bills failed in several states, Oregon’s relatively weak Catholic infrastructure and strong Klan organization made it vulnerable. Backed by about 14,000 Klansmen and a Klan-endorsed governor, Oregon voters narrowly approved the Compulsory Education Act in November 1922.
The new law required all children ages 8 to 16 to attend public school, effectively outlawing parochial and other
private grammar schools. Parents who refused could face jail time or fines.
“The time was too short to overcome the immense tide of anti-Catholic prejudice,” noted a Nov. 9, 1922, editorial in the Catholic Sentinel. In the January 1923 issue of Columbia, Portland Archbishop Alexander Christie further explained, “There were nationwide forces at work behind the local proponents of the bill. They had no hesitancy in declaring that their larger purpose included the suppression of Catholic schools in the whole country.”
Father Edwin O’Hara — a Portland priest and former Knights of Columbus chaplain who had served in France during World War I — became a leading voice against the law. He emphasized the idea that children belong to their parents, not the state. “This principle is older than the Republic,” he wrote. “To deny it is to deny the very foundation of a free society.”
The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, who had operated schools in Oregon since 1859, stepped forward as plaintiffs. They were soon joined by Hill Military Academy, a nonsectarian private school. Together, they mounted a constitutional challenge, hoping to block the law before it took effect in 1926.
Recognizing the high cost of litigation, Archbishop Christie traveled to Chicago in early 1923 to seek help from the Knights of Columbus. “We are at the end of our resources,” he told the Supreme Council. Supreme Knight Flaherty later recalled, “There was only one answer to make. We told His Grace that we were with him to a man.”
The Knights ultimately contributed more than $40,000 — approximately $750,000 in 2025 dollars — in legal aid. But the Order’s support went beyond finances. Through Columbia and publicity efforts, it rallied national attention and helped shape public understanding of the case.
In March 1924, a panel of federal judges ruled in favor of the Sisters. On its front page, The New York Times summarized the decision: “[The judges] declared that the law robs parents of their rights, private school teachers of their livelihood and private schools of their property.”
No one rested on their laurels. Oregon’s governor, Walter Pierce, quickly appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the case was renamed Pierce v. Society of Sisters
The Sisters’ team brought in William Guthrie, a prominent constitutional lawyer and former Columbia University professor. In the June 1924 issue of Columbia, Guthrie called the case “the most dangerous and far-reaching crisis” ever faced by Catholic education in America.
Rather than argue on strictly religious liberty grounds, Guthrie based his case on the Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause and principles of natural law. He pointed to the contributions of Catholic schools to society, especially during World War I, and argued that the state had no right to interfere with legitimate private enterprise or parental duty. The strategy worked.
In February 1923, for example, Columbia published a forceful critique by a former Oregon governor, Ben W. Olcott, who had been defeated by a Klan-backed candidate.
“We have seen the injunctions of our forefathers disobeyed; we have seen class arrayed against class; neighbor against neighbor,” he warned. “Are these things to spread, or are they to die under a resurrection of common sense?”
In Portland, J.P. Kavanaugh — a former circuit court judge and member of the Knights — led the Sisters’ legal team. Their argument emphasized that the law unjustly harmed the Sisters’ business enterprise and property, and more broadly, infringed on the rights of parents to direct their children’s education.
On June 1, 1925, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that Oregon’s law was unconstitutional.
“The child is not the mere creature of the State,” wrote Justice James McReynolds in the unanimous decision. “Those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.”
The Pierce ruling was hailed across the country. Future Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter said the decision had “stifled the recrudescence of intolerance” and toppled “the effort to regiment the mental life of Americans.”
At the Sisters’ convent south of Portland, a chronicler recorded the community’s response on June 2: “Our joy is unbounded — it is as if the very floodgates of Heaven had opened and poured out upon the length and breadth of our own United States the refreshing waters of renewal of spirit.”
The Knights, too, celebrated the victory. “Who shall say that to serve God well is to serve our country ill?” wrote Supreme Knight Flaherty in Columbia. “As lovers of liberty and of true American ideals, let us rejoice in this confirmation of our faith in the fair-mindedness and tolerant spirit of the American people, so unmistakenly expressed in the decision of the Supreme Court.”
In the decades that followed, Pierce v. Society of Sisters would be cited in more than 100 Supreme Court opinions. In 1947, it served as precedent in Everson v. Board of Education, allowing public transportation for students at religious
schools. In 1950, as Congress debated whether federal funding could aid parochial education, Columbia’s editors noted that the Pierce decision had given a “knock on the head” to the empty notion that public schools are more American than Catholic schools.
The 1958 National Defense Education Act, passed in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik, extended federal funding for science and language instruction to all schools — public and private alike — in a move consistent with Pierce Later decisions and legislation upheld aid for classrooms and technology in parochial schools.
Jesuit Father Richard Regan, writing in 1993, observed that denying support to private schools effectively removed choice for families without means. And in 2000, Columbia columnist Russell Shaw posed a lasting question in relation to vouchers and school choice: “How solid is a ‘right’ that parents can’t exercise due to economic inequity — specifically, the inequity of concentrating tax-supported resources on public schools to the exclusion of other alternatives?”
While Pierce is a legal touchstone for those defending school choice, religious institutions, and parental rights, it has also been echoed throughout the Order’s broader legacy
of religious liberty. Within a year of the Supreme Court’s decision, the Knights mobilized to defend the Church in Mexico, where sweeping anti-clerical laws had outlawed public worship and triggered violent persecution. From its response to atheistic communism — including the addition of the words “under God” to the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance — to its defense of the Little Sisters of the Poor against coercive health mandates, the Order has remained steadfast in upholding conscience rights and protecting the free expression of faith in public life.
Following the June 1925 victory in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, Supreme Knight James Flaherty affirmed, “Let us rejoice that when, in the dark hours of bigotry’s first threatening advance, the victims of a small and prejudiced group sought our aid, they did not seek in vain.” He then added, “May the day never dawn that will find our swords sheathed and idle in any struggle against injustice.” B
ED LANGLOIS is communications director for Catholic Charities of Oregon. He wrote for the Catholic Sentinel of Portland for 30 years and serves on the board of the Oregon Catholic Historical Society.
Grand Knight Robert Garcia of St. Anthony Manteca (Calif.) Council 10693 serves soup during a Lenten supper hosted by the council at St. Anthony Catholic Church. Council members prepared and served 12 homemade pots of soup to more than 100 people, including several community members experiencing homelessness.
Father Hannas Council 10519 in Edmonton, Alberta, initiated a project to restore about 60 pews at St. Basil the Great Ukrainian Parish; cleaning solutions used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 had removed the pews’ varnish coating. Knights sanded and washed the pews before applying two new coats of varnish. Council 10519 covered the project’s costs, totaling about CA$500.
Lancaster (Pa.) Council 867 donated $5,500 to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, to support the archdiocese’s ministry to military personnel around the world. Council 867 also supports one archdiocesan seminarian a year through its scholarship fund named in honor of William Ramey, a Knight for more than 40 years who died in 1989.
Knights from Msgr. Bernard G. Collins Assembly 2889 and Queen of Peace Council 9446 in Mesa, Ariz., helped organize a rosary rally at Queen of Peace Parish. More than 70 parishioners came to the rally to pray.
John A. Forsting Council 9830 in Eagle River, Alaska, donated $1,000 to the youth faith formation program at St. Andrew Catholic Church. The funds were used to buy 40 folding chairs for the parish’s new multi-use meeting and youth education facility.
Members of three Georgia councils assisted with setup and takedown, shuttle service, photography, and more during Shepherds of the Meek Mission’s annual gala and 5K run. The two events raised $44,000 for the faithbased group, which supports organizations that focus on serving children in developing nations.
Immaculate Conception Council 14962 in Columbus, Ohio, purchased a used car, new license plates and six months of car insurance, and gifted it all to Benedictus Adjanoh, a Diocese of Columbus seminarian and a member of Pontifical College Josephinum Council 15009. The vehicle blessed by pastor and council chaplain Father Matthew Hoover.
‘BE
Bicentennial Council 6781 in Kansas City, Kan., organized a men’s retreat titled “Esto Vir — Be a Man” at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church Parish Center. Father Timothy Skoch, parochial vicar and member of Council 6781, led the retreat, which was attended by 30 men. Father Mark Mertes, pastor and council chaplain, translated the retreat talks from English to Spanish for Spanish-speaking retreatants.
Members of Father Fenelon Council 10878 in Fenelon Falls, Ontario, stand with Father Luis Lapinid (center), pastor and council chaplain, after removing tree limbs and debris from the backyard at St. Aloysius Church’s rectory. After a severe ice storm hit central Ontario in March, Father Lapinid asked the Knights to help clear debris at the rectory and the house next door.
Don Briskey, a member of Queen of Peace Council 9263 in Salem, Ore., prepares eggs during a K of C breakfast fundraiser to aid a parish staff member who was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The event raised over $5,000, with additional donations from Knights and parishioners adding $10,000 more to assist with medical expenses.
For more than a decade, Grand Knight Bob Steinert of Msgr. Arthur M. Tighe Council 1698 in Kansas City, Mo., has made mission trips to La Chacra, an impoverished urban community in El Salvador. Council 1698 has long supported the mission trips and recently purchased more than 100 copies of La Chica de la Chacra, a bilingual children’s book written by Steinert to raise funds for the ministry.
For the past year, St. Joseph Council 7413 in Erie, Mich., has made monthly $100 donations to the Elizabeth Foundation’s Adopt-A-Family program, feeding three families with twice-monthly food distributions. Several councils in southeast Michigan support the foundation, which was founded by two Michigan Knights as part of a 30-year effort to provide food for families in need, working also with councils in the Philippines to assist local families.
Members of St. Anthony of Padua Council 14152 in Danao City, Visayas, prepared packages of rice, canned goods, noodles, instant coffee, laundry soap and shampoo for 10 families whose residences were affected by a recent fire.
Hoffman-Schaumburg Council 6964 in Hoffman Estates, Ill., donated $15,000 to St. Hubert Catholic School for its tuition assistance fund. The fund is named in honor of Father Mike Scherschel, a former council chaplain who died in 2023.
St. Nicholas Council 16230 in Tea, S.D., donated $1,100 to the Bishop Dudley Hospitality House in Sioux Falls. The organization provides emergency shelter and daily meals to families and individuals in need.
Our Lady of Lourdes Council 11809 in Sun City West, Ariz., launched a new member engagement initiative aimed at reaching out to Knights who have become inactive, have special needs, or are homebound or living in assisted living facilities. Active council members seek to understand their brothers’ challenges and then create tailored opportunities to reintegrate them into council life. Of 120 inactive members, more than half have been successfully engaged.
Bishop Ruocco Council 9275 in Chelmsford, Mass., recently made its annual donation to Lazarus House Ministries in Lawrence, providing 40 $25 gift cards and more than 1,000 cans of tuna to help stock St. Martha’s Food Pantry, which serves more than 1,800 guests each week.
This year, 20 volunteers helped clean and landscape 12
Las Vegas-area Knights watch as Auxiliary Bishop Gregory Gordon of Las Vegas blesses a new memorial to Knights and clergy who served in the military. Councils and assemblies across the archdiocese worked together to raise $6,000 for the monument, located at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.
St. Joseph Council 15304 in Spirit Lake, Idaho, organized a fundraiser that generated $11,000 to support several organizations, including three local food banks and two pregnancy resource centers.
Staten Island (N.Y.) Council 1662 recently distributed more than 200 blankets, 22 tents and 20 boxes of toiletries to veterans experiencing homelessness in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The council raised $7,800 to purchase the items.
Members of Father Pauwelyn Assembly 587 in Billings, Mont., provided an honor guard for the dedication ceremony of a new memorial honoring the nearly 50 service members from Montana killed in action since the Vietnam War at Dehler Park. Assembly 587 donated $100 toward the monument’s construction.
The Washington State Council has teamed up with Sacred Heart Radio to produce a Knights in Action show that airs three times each week. State Deputy Greg Mahoney and public relations chair Tim Dunn highlight the charitable work of councils throughout the Evergreen State.
Father Edmund Battersby Council 7586 in South Lyon, Mich., and Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Assembly 3099 in Milford held their annual First Responders Appreciation Dinner at St. Joseph Church in South Lyon. Thirty guests from six local first responder agencies attended the event.
La Salette Council 5755 in Westlake, La., hosted its annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship; 14 children from several local schools participated in the event.
Jenner Alberto, a member of Manila (Luzon South) Council 1000, and his son, Magn Ellis, plant a tree at Camp Rodriguez, a camp operated by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. More than 160 volunteers from 20 councils in Luzon South planted 500 fruit-bearing trees and other greenery at the event, which kicked off the jurisdiction’s yearlong Give Back to Our Nature program.
Mary, Queen of the Knights Council 816 in Neptune, N.J., and St. Anselm Parish’s social justice ministry organized a conversation on the principles of Catholic social justice. About 50 parishioners discussed the difference between social justice and charitable works, their interdependence and strategies for promoting social change.
Queen of Apostle Council 6548 in Houghton Lake, Mich., raised $4,400 during its annual fund drive for people with disabilities. The council will distribute the funds between Special Olympics Michigan and C.O.O.R. Intermediate School District.
St. Peter Council 18058 in Lexington, Ky., donated over $3,000 raised during its trivia night fundraiser to Assurance Care, a local pregnancy resource center.
Members of St. Mary Council 6547 in Milton, Wis., stand with a client of KANDU Industries, a local organization providing life skills training, job opportunities and more to people with disabilities. Council 6547 organized a service day to help paint KANDU’s new facility in Milton and donated $2,500 to support its mission.
Knights from Orange Park (Fla.) Council 7399 and Most Holy Redeemer Council 17029 in Jacksonville gather near a new ultrasound machine they purchased for the Jacksonville Westside location of Women’s Help Center. The councils raised more than $19,000, matched by the Supreme Council through the Ultrasound Initiative, to fund the purchase.
Msgr. Gregory Kennedy Council 10499 in Ocean Springs, Miss., organized a baby bottle drive at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, raising more than $5,000 for the Diocese of Biloxi’s Walking with Moms in Need program.
St. Michael the Archangel Council 15969 at Yokota Air Base in Japan donated $500 to the Kanto Plains Special Olympic Committee in preparation for the 46th Annual Kanto Plains Special Olympics, to be held in November 2025. Council 15969 provides either financial support or volunteers each year to serve meals to athletes and spectators.
St. John Paul II Council 2344 in Scarborough, Maine, donated $4,000, raised through a baby bottle drive, to Mother Seton House in Fryeburg. Because the donation was made through the ASAP (Aid and Support After Pregnancy) program, the Supreme Council will contribute an additional $400 to the maternity home.
Members of St. Peter Chanel Council 13217 in Roswell, Ga., repaired a fence and gates at InCommunity’s Unlimited Possibilities Center during a service day to improve the center’s outdoor spaces. Knights also installed a new swing, restored horseshoe pits, and more. InCommunity provides community-based services and support to people with disabilities and their families.
Msgr. Richard C. Madden Council 6629 and Father David J. Schiller Council 11910 in Summerville, S.C., hosted their third annual golf tournament to support people with disabilities. Ninety golfers participated, raising nearly $11,000 for community organizations in Summerville and Dorchester counties.
See more at
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Please submit your council activities to knightsinaction@kofc.org
Knights from St. Anthony of Padua Council 15622 lead more than 1,000 people in a Way of the Cross procession through Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. Participants walked over three miles, praying the Stations of the Cross and singing Lenten hymns. Councils across Poland organize similar events each Lent to encourage devotion in their parishes and communities.
Members of Bishop Guerrero Assembly 1612 and St. Augustine Assembly 3673 in Olongapo City, Luzon North, march in the city’s annual festival parade. Before the parade, Knights also led a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Jose Rizal, a 19th-century hero of Philippine independence.
Knights and families from Our Lady of the Rosary Council 4428 in Deer Park, N.Y., gather around a council donation to the United Veterans Beacon House in Bay Shore. The donation consisted of $2,000 worth of food and household supplies purchased and delivered during the council’s annual motorcycle ride in honor of veterans.
Photo by Alan Fabricante
Charter members of the newly established Santísima Trinidad Council 18633 gather after Mass at Holy Trinity Parish in Querétaro, Mexico Central. The Mass on March 19, celebrated by their chaplain, Father Cyriaque Mounkoro, concluded with the Knights’ consecration to St. Joseph following 33 days of preparation.
Deputy Grand Knight Garry Parsons of Archbishop Howley Council 2581 in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador, keeps score during the council’s recent Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship. Nearly 20 children from local schools participated.
Internally displaced people gather at the entrance of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Church in Kharkiv for an aid distribution organized by the Ukraine State Council. Knights of Columbus care packages — including food, clothing, medicine and utensils — were assembled by councils in five different locations in Ukraine before being transported to Kharkiv, benefitting about 5,000 people.
College Knights in Wisconsin bring Christ to the streets of the state’s capital
By Megan Stibley
FATHER ERIC STERNBERG, a member of University of Wisconsin-Madison Council 6568, had envisioned organizing a Eucharistic procession with university students through the state’s capital since becoming pastor of St. Paul’s Catholic Student Center in 2023.
“Why not have a public manifestation of faith that might give students confidence to express and give testimony to their faith publicly?” Father Sternberg asked.
In October 2024, Grand Knight Andrew Hodgson proposed the idea to his fellow college Knights. The council decided not only to support the procession, but to organize an entire festival celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27.
“Once we broke it down into achievable steps, people saw that it was something we could do,” said Hodgson, who also serves as chairman of the College Councils Advisory Board.
The event included an outdoor Mass, Eucharistic adoration and procession, and a reception featuring food from local Catholic-owned businesses. With help from K of C councils throughout Wisconsin, Council 6568 raised over $10,000 to fund the celebration.
More than 500 people from across
the state participated. The festival began with a noon Mass celebrated by Bishop Donald Hying of Madison in James Madison Park, followed by Eucharistic adoration, with the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet, readings from St. Faustina’s Diary, and opportunities for confession.
The Eucharistic procession began at 3 p.m., the Hour of Mercy, with council members escorting Father Enan Zelinski, parochial vicar and a brother Knight, as he carried the Blessed Sacrament. Participants sang hymns along the 1.5-mile route through downtown Madison to the state capitol, where they paused for prayer.
“It was really fascinating to see the awestruck reaction of onlookers,” Hodgson recalled. “They were instantly curious — and that’s all we can hope for from people who haven’t experienced something like this before.”
Father Sternberg led the second half of the procession back to the park, where the day concluded with Benediction.
“You could just feel God’s anointing on the day; he was there with us,” he said. “The public expression of faith can be a beautiful thing.” ✢
— Megan Stibley is associate editor of Columbia .
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Every day, Knights all over the world are given opportunities to make a difference — whether through community service, raising money or prayer. We celebrate each and every Knight for his strength, his compassion and his dedication to building a better world.
Rick Novak, a member of Patuxent Council 2203 in Laurel, Md., assists with an Easter food distribution that provided almost 4,000 pounds of food to nearly 600 people. Since 1997, Council 2203 has partnered with the SHARE Food Network, a Catholic Charities ministry of the Archdiocese of Washington, to help deliver and distribute food to local food pantries and individuals in need.
‘I felt something had changed. I was not the same.’
I had the great blessing of growing up in a family in which faith was lived in a simple, practical way. However, it was my paternal grandmother in particular who influenced my journey of faith. She was a woman who explained to us, who talked to us about Jesus, who taught us the catechism. … The first proclamation is at home, in the family! And this makes me think of the love of so many mothers and grandmothers in the transmission of faith.
One day in particular, though, was very important to me: Sept. 21, 1953. I was almost 17. It was “Students’ Day.” Before going to the celebration, I passed through the parish I normally attended, I found a priest that I did not know, and I felt the need to go to confession. For me this was an experience of encounter: I found that someone was waiting for me. … After making my confession, I felt something had changed. I was not the same. I had heard something like a voice, or a call. I was convinced that I should become a priest.
Pope Francis Address on Vigil of Pentecost, May 18, 2013