Search
Knights of Columbus...... Did you know?
-
1. Created the $20 million "Knights of Columbus Vicarious Christi" fund - the earning on which are conveyed annually to the Holy Father for his charities. Since its inception, this fund has generated more than $43.1 million for the Pope's good works, and the corpus remains intact.
2. Bring the Pope to the world at least three times a year by providing the uplink cost for the televising of papal ceremonies, especially at Christmas and during Holy Week - and the downlink in poor mission countries.
3. Provided funding to restore the facade and the Atrium of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
4. Established the $2 million Pacem in Terris Fund for the benefit of the Church's pastoral mission to the Christian communities in the Holy Land.
5. Contributed $12.8 million to the U.S. Bishops' Pro-Life educational campaign since 1990.
6. Provide the entire budget of the National Family Planning offices of the U.S. and Canadian Bishops.
7. Sponsor the national Catholic Bioethics Center's bishops' workshop for the bishops of the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the Philippines on vital life-death issues.
8. Raised $1 million to establish the Bishop de Laval Fund; the earning on which annually support the work of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
9. Established $6.6 million in endowment funds for the benefit of bishops and priests studying at the North American, Canadian, Mexican and Filipino Pontifical Colleges in Rome and the American College in Louvain.
10. Contributed, since 1981, over $38 million to thousands of seminarians and postulants through the Refund Support Vocations Program, generating $7.4 million in rebates from the Supreme Council to participating councils, assemblies and circles.
11. Established a North American campus of the Lateran University's Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C.
12. Provided free information on the Catholic faith to interested inquirers - more than 4 million responses and more than 200,000 enrollees in correspondence courses through the years.
13. Donated $1 million to fund the 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City, Canada.
14. Erected the Knight's Tower and carillon of bells at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and raised a $1 million memorial fund in honor of Past Supreme Knight Luke E. Hart to promote Marian devotion at the Shrine and to preserve the shrine in perpetuity.
15. Printed and distributed 500,000 copies of the Knights of Columbus Armed With the Faith military prayer book.
16. Support the spiritual welfare of armed services personnel and their families around the globe through a $900,000 fund for the Archdiocese for Military Services.
17. Donated to the $1 million Knights of Columbus Heroes Fund to provide financial aid to the families of the emergency personnel killed or disabled during the 9/11 attacks.
18. Raised and donated $10 million to the victims of the 2005 Gulf States Hurricane Disaster.
19. Funded our Order's donation of 8,000 wheelchairs to handicapped individuals throughout the world including 2,000 to U.S. Military Veterans.
20. Furthered the Cause for Sainthood of our Founder Father Michael J. McGivney, through your prayers and reports of his intercession in your life's endeavors.
21. Renovated St. Mary's church in New Haven, the birthplace of the order and entombed the remains of the founder, Rev. Michael J. McGivney, therein on March 29, 1982. Completed the 110-year-old construction plan of the church by erecting a 179-foot steeple, including a carillon of three bronze bells, atop St. Mary's.
22. In 2012, raised and distributed over $167 million and contributed more than 70 million volunteer-hours in service to Church, community, youth, and fellowman through the "Surge...with Service" outreach program.
23. Paid $184 million in death benefits to the families of deceased Brother Knights during 2006 and $346 million in dividends to insurance members.
24. Provide life insurance coverage on the lives of more than 1.3 million members and their families.
25. Are responsible for recruiting more than 70,000 members into the Knights of Columbus each year.
26. More than 1.8 million members in over 14,000 councils.
