Knights of Columbus Council 544 is proud to be a member of the Cathedral parish community, and much of our current effort in service and fundraising revolves around supporting the Cathedral, its parishoners and its sponsored charities. Please visit our council website, www.kofc544.org to find out more about our current programs and upcoming events.
Founding Principles
The Knights of Columbus is founded on four key principles – Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. These principles inform the activities that we undertake as an order, just as they influence and shape the lives we lead as Catholic gentlemen. We all have different talents, different interests, and different callings in the Church; but as Knights, it is through our foundational principles that we are bound together in that one common purpose which is the work of the Church on earth.
About the Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic lay fraternal organization, founded in New Haven CT in 1882 by Father Michael J McGivney. The late 19th century was a industrial age, marked by poor working conditions and high mortality rates among workers. Catholic workers were especially prone to hardship due to widespread anti-Catholicism which often prevented them access to what support was available. Seeing this need, Fr McGivney chartered the Knights as a fraternal benefit society, which could provide for the financial, social and spiritual needs of its members, and most especially, for the widows and orphans of its members.
Since those humble beginnings, the order has grown to encompass over 14,000 councils and 1.8 million members. The financial services of the order now exist as one of the highest rated life insurance programs in the world. Knights are active in almost all aspects of the Church, from charity work to relief missions to fundraising, as well as political activity in defense of life and religious freedom. Councils also provide an important social role in the Church, by providing Catholic men with a community of like minded individuals with whom they can grow in the faith.
Membership offers the opportunity for fellowship with those who are of the same belief, who recognize the same duty to God, to family and to neighbor and who stand side by side in defense of those beliefs. Various programs are offered to appeal to the individual interests and needs of the members. Through many activities, members are enabled to serve their Church, their country and their fellow man. Through membership, they develop a consciousness of their ability to lead and to assist.
