Knights of Columbus (K. of C.) is an international organization of Roman Catholic men and their families. It was founded in 1882 by Michael J. McGivney, a Roman Catholic priest. The organization’s purpose was to give moral support to Catholic families and to provide them with benefits they were unable to obtain through insurance companies of that time. Today, the K. of C. also sponsors religious, welfare, and educational programs. Members of the K. of C. must be 18 years old and practicing Catholics.
The K. of C. has thousands of councils (local branches) in the United States, Canada, and several other countries and territories. The K. of C. also operates the Columbian Squires, an organization for Roman Catholic boys from 10 to 18 years old.
The Knights of Columbus started a program in 1948 that is today called the Catholic Information Service. Through this program, free printed information that explains various Roman Catholic beliefs has been distributed to non-Catholics to help promote interfaith understanding.
Knights of Columbus activities include camps and schools for underprivileged children, aid to orphans, sick people, and disabled people, and citizenship training programs. The society has established a Knights of Columbus Vatican Film Library at St. Louis University. This library has microfilms of millions of pages from books and rare manuscripts in the Vatican Library. The society operates scholarship programs and accident, endowment, family life, health, and hospitalization insurance programs.
Most local and state K. of C. councils are self-governing. The society has an international board of directors. The Supreme Council is the chief international legislative body. The organization’s international headquarters are in New Haven, Connecticut.
