An Interview with Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly MATTHEW LUDWIG '24, ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON
Patrick Kelly, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, gives a speech accepting the Rector's Award.
Throughout your life, you have served in the military, the government, and the Church. How has your faith been impacted by these experiences? My experiences serving in the military and government and for the Church have, each in different ways, served to deepen my faith and to strengthen my conviction about the importance of the Church’s voice in society. Serving in the Navy puts your mortality front and center. It forces you to reflect on what you believe about the most im-
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The Pontifical North American College
portant things — and how you think about death. This raises the question — do I really believe? And for me, it drew me closer to Christ. When I was serving in government, I was struck by how important the faith has been to the formation of our culture in the United States. A society needs to share certain fundamental values and ideals in order to remain coherent. I saw just how much the values that have long defined our nation originated from the Christian tra-
dition — for example, the dignity of every human life. I know the Church must continue to speak the simple truth to the modern world: Jesus Christ is the answer to all our problems. I have grown to appreciate the long history of our faith and its ability to bring the truth to the world. I am more convinced than ever that the Church is the divine institution that it claims to be, and that it is the “pillar of truth” as St. Paul says.