Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly spoke at the Knights of Columbus convention in Quebec
The “days of easy faith are over,” and a “new generation of Catholic men” are needed in the Church, said the head of the Knights of Columbus at the global Catholic fraternal organization’s annual gathering.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly of the Knights of Columbus addressed more than 2,500 fellow Knights and guests at the fraternal organization’s 142nd Supreme Convention, which took place Aug. 6-8 at the Quebec City Convention Center in Quebec City in Canada.
Founded in 1882 by Connecticut parish priest Blessed Michael McGivney, the Knights of Columbus now count more than 2.1 million members in over 16,800 local councils globally. In 2023, the Knights donated over 47 million service hours and more than $190 million to those in need.
In his opening address Aug. 6, Kelly surveyed the breadth of the Knights’ work, which spans an array of humanitarian and spiritual initiatives designed to witness to the Gospel.
That mission, which requires Knights to be “resolute, undaunted (and) zealous,” has become more critical than ever, especially at a time when “in many places around the world, Catholic baptisms are declining and secularism is on the rise,” said Kelly, adding, “Many of us are worried about the world our children will inherit.”
Pointing to the example of Blessed McGivney and St. François de Laval, the first bishop of Quebec, Kelly said that “a new generation of Catholic men … formed in faith and virtue … (and) prepared to be missionary disciples” must be built up.
With more than 92,000 men joining the Knights last year, many of them Hispanic, the organization has experienced record growth, said Kelly, but stressed he envisions doubling the current membership.
“Imagine the impact, the communities we could help — the parishes that we could serve and the lives that we could change,” he said.
The Knights’ Global Wheelchair Mission, a partnership with both the American Wheelchair Mission and the Canadian Wheelchair Foundation, “gave the gift of mobility to more than 11,000 people” in 2023.
In addition, the Knights “continue to serve those who are persecuted for their faith,” said Kelly, noting that the organization has over the past decade “rebuilt churches and restored whole communities in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.”
Kelly also pointed to the Knights’ work in Ukraine, where conditions are “especially dire for our brother Knights” amid Russia’s full-scale war, launched in 2022 and continuing attacks that began in 2014.
He stressed that the Knights remain committed to upholding the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death, countering abortion and assisted suicide.
Kelly cited the Knights’ extensive pregnancy and post-natal support efforts, along with its advocacy against assisted suicide.
The National Eucharistic Revival in the U.S., which recently drew more than 50,000 pilgrims to the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, intensified the Knights’ awareness that “God is actively renewing His Church,” said Kelly.
“This is our call, to be Knights of the Eucharist, to serve Our Lord in all we do,” he said. “We answered that call in new and renewed ways over the last year. And as we look to the year ahead, we do so with great confidence and joy.”
