For more than a century, Father McGivney’s legacy has been lived out in the hearts, minds and helping hands of his Knights of Columbus. Where there is a need, there is a Knight.
Numbers do not tell the whole story of Father McGivney’s ongoing inspiration of the Order he founded, but they do provide an important perspective.
Today, there are more than 2 million members of the Knights of Columbus in more than 16,000 local councils located in more than a dozen countries around the world. In 2019, these Knights together donated $187 million to charity and provided 77 million hours of volunteer work. Over the past decade, the Order has donated more than $1.6 billion to worthy causes.
In addition, the insurance program that Father McGivney began in 1882 to support families when a member died has grown from the simple seeds he sowed. Today, the Knights of Columbus is a modern Fortune 1000 company that has more than $119 billion in financial protection in force for Knights and their families. Death benefits to survivors and regular dividends to policyholders translate each year to thousands of mortgages kept, college tuitions paid, retirements secured, and futures assured — and every dollar of assets is invested according to Catholic moral principles.
The legacy of Father McGivney is also found in the countless smiles of children receiving winter coats; bags of food delivered to families in need; extra gifts beneath Christmas trees; homes built by sweat equity with Habitat for Humanity; unborn lives saved through the Ultrasound Initiative; and millions of prayers offered every day by Knights and their families for peace, healing and reconciliation.
The heart and soul of the Order are found in the local councils, where ordinary men work together to perform extraordinary deeds for church and community, according to the Faith in Action model.
With an Order based on charity, unity and fraternity, Father McGivney unleashed the grace of good works for generations, and today’s Knights carry on his legacy of building a better world for all.
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