Knights of Columbus honor Pope Francis, celebrate milestones in charity work at convention

Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly. / Credit: Courtesy of Knights of Columbus/Screenshot

Washington D.C., Aug 6, 2025 / 13:47 pm (CNA).

At the first Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention since Pope Francis’ death, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly offered a tribute to the former pontiff’s legacy and celebrated the growth of the organization and its charitable accomplishments over the past year.

The Knights of Columbus began their 143rd annual convention on Aug. 5 at the Washington Hilton in Washington, D.C., where thousands of members of the organization — including Archbishop William Lori, the Knights’ supreme chaplain of 20 years — gathered for the occasion.

Kelly, who has served as supreme knight since 2021, remembered Pope Francis’ dedication to the most vulnerable — a hallmark of the Knights of Columbus’ global charity work — and the late pontiff’s close relationship with the fraternal organization.

“Pope Francis was a powerful witness to charity and when he summoned the Church to the peripheries, he led by example — like a good father,” Kelly said in his delivery of the annual report of the Knights’ charity work.

“His love for the poor and the sick was extraordinary,” he said. “Who can forget the moment, in the early days of his papacy, when he embraced a severely disfigured man in St. Peter’s Square or when he celebrated his 80th birthday by sharing breakfast with the homeless? He did what our world so often refuses to do. And the world watched, with admiration.”

Kelly said Francis was “a great friend of the Knights of Columbus” who “encouraged our charity around the world” and “especially praised our humanitarian work in Ukraine, as well as our efforts to combat human trafficking.” He also credited Francis with inspiring the organization to grow its outreach to the Indigenous people of the United States, Canada, and the Philippines.

*Knights of Columbus’ global charity work and growth*

During his address, Kelly also reported on the fraternal organization’s ongoing charity work globally and its growth.

The report noted that members of the Knights of Columbus collectively dedicated more than 48 million hours to service. The organization also broke its record for charitable donations, reaching about $197 million over the year.

According to the report, the Knights of Columbus surpassed 2.1 million members after more than 96,000 men joined the organization last year. The Knights of Columbus have also grown on college campuses with now 8,000 knights at 146 college councils.

Kelly noted that the Knights of Columbus is currently responding to the flash flood in Texas, where “hundreds of families lost their loved ones — and one brother knight tragically lost both his parents and his two young daughters.” The Knights also responded to floods in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida along with the wildfires in California.

The report stated that the Knights of Columbus have continued “bringing emergency supplies to refugees” in Ukraine with the organization’s Charity Convoys and serve people in the country through its Mercy Centers.

“We pray for an end to the war in Ukraine, but so long as the war continues, we’ll be there for those who suffer,” Kelly said.

Kelly reported on the growth of the Knights’ Global Wheelchair Mission, which has now donated more than 158,000 wheelchairs, including 19,000 last year. This includes 300 to Nigeria, which was provided to “Christians who have endured violence and persecution for their faith.”

The Knights of Columbus also set a new record for winter jackets delivered to children through its Coats for Kids initiative, which has now surpassed 1.6 million total jackets to children.

According to the report, the Knights’ program Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP) provided pro-life pregnancy centers with $6 million last year and more than $17 million over the last three years. The Knights also surpassed more than 2,000 donated ultrasounds through its Ultrasound Initiative meant to “save lives by showing parents their unborn children.”

The Knights of Columbus also saw growth in its Cor program, which is a “small-group setting [that] gives men a place to embrace the mission for which they were made — the mission that God himself has uniquely given to them,” according to the report. In August 2024, Cor was active at 650 councils but has now expanded to more than 5,000 councils.

“Like every generation that came before us, we will move forward — in charity, unity, and fraternity,” Kelly said.

“We will serve Our Lord by serving others,” he added. “And we will sacrifice for them, like he did for us.”