FAIRFIELD COUNTY—Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly announced that the Connecticut Knights of Columbus earned the Circle of Honor Pinnacle Award for the 2021-2022 fraternal year. This is the second consecutive year that Connecticut achieved this distinction. Each year the Supreme Knight recognizes the Order’s top jurisdictions for outstanding achievements in the areas of charitable outreach, membership growth and religious programming, with the Circle of Honor award.
Achieving Pinnacle means that the jurisdiction substantially exceeded the requirements for Circle of Honor, especially by attracting large numbers of new members. State Deputy Matt McGrath issued the following statement after learning of the top honor: “Over the last year, knights in Connecticut demonstrated the principles of the Order—charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. Being recognized by the Supreme Knight is a great honor for all of us. It is a testament to the commitment and effort of individual members and their families, local councils, district deputies, state staff and state officers throughout the year, most of it behind the scenes. Inspired by the example of our Founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, Connecticut’s Hero, we rededicate ourselves to the important mission of the Order, and invite all Catholic men and their families to join us.”
The Connecticut State Council will be recognized formally at the upcoming 140th Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention in Nashville, Tennessee this August 1-4. The international meeting will bring together nearly two-thousand Knights of Columbus delegates and family members. Since July 1, 2021, more than 750 Catholic men have joined the Knights of Columbus in Connecticut and its 170 local councils. In 2021, the more than 23,500 members of the Knights of Columbus in Connecticut donated over $1.4 million dollars to charity while volunteering over 300,000 hours of service to Connecticut communities and charitable causes.
About the Knights of Columbus
In 1882, Blessed Michael McGivney, a young parish priest in New Haven, Conn., founded the Knights of Columbus to serve the needs of a largely immigrant Catholic community. What began as a small fraternal benefit society has since grown into one of the world’s leading international charitable organizations, with 2 million members in more than 16,000 local councils. In 2020, Knights around the world donated more than 47 million service hours and $150 million for worthy causes in their communities. The Knights of Columbus also offers extensive life insurance products to members and their families. Knights of Columbus Insurance currently has more than $119 billion of life insurance policies in force and was named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Insurance Companies 2022. In addition, the Knights provide investment services in accord with Catholic social teaching through Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors, which holds total assets of more than $29 billion in assets under management. Based on the founding principles of charity, unity and fraternity, the Order remains committed to strengthening Catholic families and parishes and to practicing faith in action through service to all in need.
(To learn more or to join the Knights of Columbus, please visit kofc.org/join.)
