NEW HAVEN—When Patrick Kelly was serving as a JAG in the Navy, he had a spiritual awakening, an awakening that prompted him to leave a military career as an attorney, move into his friend’s basement and enroll in the Pontifical John Paul II Institute to study the Church’s teachings on the family, marriage and love.
Today, the recently elected 14th supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus recognizes that as a defining moment in his life.
“I was working with sailors, defending them at courts-martial,” he recalls. “They were good men who very often made bad decisions, and when you got to know them, you saw they had a very difficult family life with no role models. I was dealing with them after the damage had been done, but it got me thinking so I left the Navy and went to the John Paul II Institute.”
He later realized it was the Holy Spirit guiding him.
“It was a bold thing to do,” he says. “I had a solid career and could have stayed but decided to leave to study theology. I moved into my friend’s basement. I didn’t know where I was being led. I just trusted. I had a desire to study this rich teaching of the Church on marriage and the family and the human person.”
It was a turning point in his life. He received his master’s degree in spring 2001, and after 9-11 he was hired by the Justice Department to work in the national security division and later did counter-terrorism work for the House Intelligence Committee before moving on to the State Department and the Office of International Religious Freedom, and then to the Knights, where he has served more than a decade in senior positions.
“The Knights was an opportunity to directly help men and families,” he said. “The challenges are enormous. It’s not easy for Catholic families to raise children in the faith because the ambient culture is not only un-Christian but also tries to pull your kids in the opposite direction. As the father of three little girls, I worry about that all the time.”
Prayer is fundamental to a family’s spiritual life, he says, recalling his own childhood in Michigan as one of eight children in a Catholic home that prayed the rosary and spent evenings around the dinner table, talking about the Church.
Kelly’s sense of mission and Catholic purpose began early in life. A frequent topic for him, his seven siblings and his parents James and Lucille was faith, just as it is today for him, his wife Vanessa and their daughters.
“It was a very Catholic home, and one of the things we had was respect for the Church,” he recalls. “We sensed there was goodness there…and that came from our parents.”
Growing up in Grand Blanc, Michigan, he attended Catholic schools and later enrolled in Marquette University, where he earned a law degree and joined the Knights council, carrying on a family tradition begun by his grandfather and father.
“The friendship brought me in,” he said. “There was a shared vision. Those kinds of friendships in the Lord are very important, where you’re talking about virtue and the greater things.”
Closely aligned to friendship is the sense of mission, which has been a driving force in Kelly’s life in the military, public service and the Knights.
After law school, he followed his father’s example and joined the Navy, where he was an attorney in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, serving with them for 24 years in active duty and reserve service.
Kelly has a special devotion to St. Joseph, which has helped him as a father and in his work with the Knights, and he considers it an honor to assume his leadership during the Year of St. Joseph.
“There are few things the world needs more right now than men in the mold of St. Joseph: faithful and virtuous witnesses to Christ and his Church,” he says.
“The role of the father is so critical. It’s the number one determining factor whether children stay in the faith,” he says. “If children see their father participating in faith activities, more than likely they will stay in the faith and take it seriously.”
For this reason, the Knights produced a video series titled “Into the Breach,” which he describes as a call to battle for Catholic men, urging them to embrace masculine virtues in a world in crisis. The series was inspired by the Apostolic Exhortation for Catholic Men by Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix and its goal is to answer what it means to be a man living in today’s world.
“We are giving men a view of what it looks like to be a Catholic man,” Kelly says. “The whole key for us is if you get the man right, you will get everything right—the marriage, the family and the parish. This is something St. John Paul II taught us. When the family starts to break down, you see all kinds of pathologies and issues.
Reaching out to young men is one of his priorities because he believes there is a great deal of isolation in the younger generation, who may be connected by social media but are lacking in real friendship.
“The Knights offer a lot for young Catholic men,” he says. “We offer friendship with other men committed to a virtuous life. It’s important for men to connect with a noble cause, something bigger than themselves. The Knights gives them an opportunity to participate in charity and fellowship, which they might not do on their own. Together we can.”
And of course, there’s his devotion to Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights, whose example and inspiration will guide every decision he and his team make, he said.
“Father McGivney was so much ahead of his time,” he says. “He worked closely with the laity, and he showed that living your parish priesthood is a path to holiness and that you could have a major impact on the lives of your parishioners. He didn’t leave a large body of writing, but he left this legacy of holiness. He was concerned with those who were struggling with poverty and early death and alcohol. He saw what he needed to do, and he did it.”
There are many priests in that same tradition, Kelly says, including his pastor, Father John Connaughton of the Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel in Stamford, whom he describes as “a Father McGivney priest.”
To Kelly, the mission of the Knights is particularly important at this time in history.
“Jesus gives us this great commission, and we have to be cooperators with him,” he says. “It’s a challenging time, but we need to live for something greater. For me, it’s important to always keep that in mind because we are here for a short amount of time, and the Lord expects us to work in the vineyard…to be coworkers with him and bring people to him for his glory.”
During his years as deputy supreme knight, Kelly was at the forefront of many major initiatives, including the cause of religious freedom, pro-life projects and programs to strengthen the family.
“The Knights have been involved with helping Christians in the Middle East, and we have always been concerned with vulnerable populations, the unborn, the poor, the persecuted and the aged,” he said. “And those concerns will continue, especially our pro-life work, which is part and parcel of who we are.”
As he looks to the future, he is encouraged by the rich tradition the Knights have.
“I am enormously privileged to lead the Knights at this time, and I have a strong team of people to do it with,” he said. “Our mission is the same now as it was 140 years ago—to strengthen Catholic men and the Catholic family and to cooperate with the Church. For a lay organization to help the Church the way the Knights can is really important. These are difficult times, and it is much harder than it was 30 to 40 years ago…but we have a strong sense of mission.”
(Patrick E. Kelly was officially installed as the 14th supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus at the conclusion of Mass June 11 at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn.)
