History of the KC Order

In the late 19th century, Catholics in this country were a minority of the population. Catholic men were not invited to join local and national social organizations. Father Michael J. McGivney, a 29 year-old priest at St. Mary's parish in New Haven, Connecticut, along with several parishioners, formed the first council of the Knights of Columbus in 1882. The goal of the order was to form a fraternal organization in which Catholic men would be welcomed. More importantly, the order was formed to provide security to the wives and children of deceased knights through its life insurance program... as is done to this day. Today, the Knights of Columbus is an international organization numbering over 1.8 million Catholic men, in over 14,000 local councils. The life insurance program as of August 2014 today encompasses more than 1.3 million policies with more than $95 billion of life insurance in force.

In June of 2014, the Knights earned its 49th consecutive A++ Superior rating for financial strength from ratings agency AM Best - no insurer in North America is more highly rated that the Knights of Columbus.

Also in early 2014, the Knights of Columbus was named a "World's Most Ethical Company" by the Ethisphere Institute, an independent center for research promoting best practices in corporate ethics and governance. It was one of only two companies named in the "life insurance" category.