About Us

The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic, family, fraternal, service organization. Our guiding principles are Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. Since our founding in New Haven, CT in 1882, the Knights have grown to a membership of over 1.9 million. Knights are found in every state of the Union, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines and many other parts of the world. Our highly-rated life insurance organization ranks among the Fortune 1000 and helps protect families with over $105 billion of life insurance policies in force.

At the heart of the Knights of Columbus is our faith. Knights are referred to as the right arm of the church. Since its founding, the Knights of Columbus has been in solidarity with the Catholic Church, the Holy Father and the bishops, priests and religious. Our Order has a special devotion to our Patroness, the Blessed Virgin Mary. By praying the Holy Rosary, we ask Mary to intercede on our behalf to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In 1948, the Knights formed Catholic Information Service to provide, at low-cost, Catholic publications to individuals, groups, and institutions requesting them. Over the years, the Order has helped fund numerous church construction and restoration projects.

As the Order has grown, its benevolence has multiplied as it continues to break previous records for charitable contributions and volunteer service. In 2018, the Knights donated $185.7 million and 76.7 million volunteer hours to charitable causes.

Closer to home, the Knights of Columbus in North Carolina number more than 16,000 and are organized in 110 local Councils from Franklin in the west to Kill Devil Hills in the east.

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