Over 2,500 Knights of Columbus Gather at their 142nd Supreme Convention in Quebec with Nearly 50 Bishops Concelebrating Mass!
The Knights of Columbus welcomed more than 2,500 Knights and their
families, members of the Catholic hierarchy and special guests from 10 countries to its 142nd
Supreme Convention in Québec City, Québec, Canada, at the Supreme Knight’s Award Session. The
awards session annually recognizes individual Knights, councils, assemblies and jurisdictions
throughout the world who have faithfully carried out the mission of the Order’s Founder, Blessed
Michael McGivney.
These honorees exemplify how Knights live their faith in service to their family, parish, community and country through charitable outreach, fraternal leadership, membership growth and retention, and insurance sales and service. Guests at the Supreme Knight’s Awards Session also enjoyed a performance by award-winning Canadian folk band Leahy. Over the course of their notable career, Leahy has received several Juno Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in Canada’s music industry, including Best New Group, Best Instrumental Artist, and Best Country Group or Duo.
Patrick E. Kelly (2021) is the fourteenth and current Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus wrote: We’re here to mark 142 years of being on mission. It’s fitting
that we’re here in Canada, for this is where we first became an
international brotherhood, just 15 years after our founding.
And since then, we’ve spread around the world. Everywhere we
go, we serve the family and strengthen the faith. And today, I want
to express my gratitude. To each and every brother Knight, thank
you for making this a banner year in charity, unity and fraternity!
This is a special year for another reason. It has now been 350
years since the Church established the first diocese in Canada.
It happened here, in Québec City. At the time, the diocese
stretched from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico. And ever
since, the Catholic faith has shaped this country — and this
continent — in profound ways. And we stand with Canada’s
bishops and priests to continue this witness.
Today, we’re especially honored to be with our devoted brother
Knight, the Archbishop of Québec and Primate of Canada,
Cardinal Gérald Lacroix. Your Eminence, congratulations on
this 350th anniversary!These honorees exemplify how Knights live their faith in service to their family, parish, community and country through charitable outreach, fraternal leadership, membership growth and retention, and insurance sales and service. Guests at the Supreme Knight’s Awards Session also enjoyed a performance by award-winning Canadian folk band Leahy. Over the course of their notable career, Leahy has received several Juno Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in Canada’s music industry, including Best New Group, Best Instrumental Artist, and Best Country Group or Duo.
Kelly explained: The Knights’ membership rose to 2.1 million members last year with 92,000 new people enlisting in the organization — one of the best years for growth in the last 100 years. He also announced that Knights offered more than 47 million hours “serving and sacrificing for the sake of others” and set a new record for donations: $190 million. (SEE: https://www.kofc.org/en/resources/events/supreme-convention/2024/annual-report-of-the-supreme-knight.pdf)
Nearly 50 bishops concelebrated Mass this morning at the 142nd Supreme Convention, a votive Mass of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, archbishop emeritus of Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines, was principal celebrant, and Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop emeritus of Toronto, was the homilist.
In his homily, Cardinal Collins reflected on the holy wisdom represented by Sts. Anne and Joachim, which he described as “knowledge and experience and intelligence tempered by humility and illuminated by the grace of God.” He urged Knights to seek wisdom in daily prayer, Scripture reading, and the lives and writings of the saints.
“Wisdom should guide us through the shifting shadows of this valley of tears through which we journey home to the heavenly city Jerusalem,” the cardinal said. “The stakes are too high, for each of us personally, and for the societies in which we live, for us to allow mere subjective sentiment to determine our actions.” #knightscon24
Nearly 50 bishops concelebrated Mass this morning at the 142nd Supreme Convention, a votive Mass of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, archbishop emeritus of Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines, was principal celebrant, and Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop emeritus of Toronto, was the homilist.
In his homily, Cardinal Collins reflected on the holy wisdom represented by Sts. Anne and Joachim, which he described as “knowledge and experience and intelligence tempered by humility and illuminated by the grace of God.” He urged Knights to seek wisdom in daily prayer, Scripture reading, and the lives and writings of the saints.
“Wisdom should guide us through the shifting shadows of this valley of tears through which we journey home to the heavenly city Jerusalem,” the cardinal said. “The stakes are too high, for each of us personally, and for the societies in which we live, for us to allow mere subjective sentiment to determine our actions.” #knightscon24
AWARD CEREMONY: Every year at the Supreme Convention, the Knights of Columbus recognizes a one K of C family for their outstanding witness of Catholic family life and their service to the Church and the community. This year, the International Family of the Year award went to Joe and Tiffany Ampe and their 13 children.
Since 2018, Tiffany and Joe, a member of Msgr. Nolan B. McKevitt Council 689 in Marquette, Michigan, have adopted four children with special needs, three of whom were born in Ukraine. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they received many requests for help from their children’s birth families and other contacts they had in the country, and they began arranging deliveries of medical and other supplies there. Since the war began, the family has traveled repeatedly to Poland and Ukraine, delivering more than 200,000 pounds of humanitarian aid. #knightscon24
Since 2018, Tiffany and Joe, a member of Msgr. Nolan B. McKevitt Council 689 in Marquette, Michigan, have adopted four children with special needs, three of whom were born in Ukraine. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, they received many requests for help from their children’s birth families and other contacts they had in the country, and they began arranging deliveries of medical and other supplies there. Since the war began, the family has traveled repeatedly to Poland and Ukraine, delivering more than 200,000 pounds of humanitarian aid. #knightscon24
HIGHLIGHTS of the Convention:
Opening day of the 142nd Supreme Convention in Québec culminated in the music and color of the annual States Dinner, when thousands of Knights, clergy and guests celebrate their homes with songs and flags.
The evening’s keynote speaker was Cardinal Seán O’Malley, whose resignation as the archbishop of Boston was accepted by Pope Francis on Monday. Cardinal O’Malley turned 80 in June, five years past the normal retirement age for bishops. In anticipation of his birthday, the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors honored the cardinal for his decades of leadership and service to the Church at their meeting earlier this year. His successor, Bishop Richard Henning of Providence, was also a guest at the States Dinner; Supreme Patrick Kelly assured him of the Knights’ prayers and jokingly told him, “You have some big sandals to fill!”
In his address, Cardinal O’Malley warned Knights against what the pope has described as the “globalization of indifference” — indifference toward both the love and mercy of God and toward the suffering of others — adding that the antidotes to indifference are gratitude and compassion.
“During this Supreme Convention where we have the opportunity to gather with brothers and sisters in the community of faith, may we come to see how blessed we are,” he said. “The ideals and the goodness of Father McGivney, the fraternity and joy of being part of Jesus’ family, the witness of our fellow Knights and their families should fill us with gratitude. … This profound sense of gratitude will lead us to be constantly seeking how to express our gratitude in acts of forgiveness, mercy and love.”
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop emeritus of Québec, gave an invocation before the dinner, and the current archbishop of Québec, Archbishop Gérald Lacroix, gave welcoming remarks. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and president of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, also spoke, thanking the Knights of Columbus for their longstanding and ongoing support for restoration projects at St. Peter’s. Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore gave the closing prayer and led guests in singing the “Salve Regina.” #knightscon24
Opening day of the 142nd Supreme Convention in Québec culminated in the music and color of the annual States Dinner, when thousands of Knights, clergy and guests celebrate their homes with songs and flags.
The evening’s keynote speaker was Cardinal Seán O’Malley, whose resignation as the archbishop of Boston was accepted by Pope Francis on Monday. Cardinal O’Malley turned 80 in June, five years past the normal retirement age for bishops. In anticipation of his birthday, the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors honored the cardinal for his decades of leadership and service to the Church at their meeting earlier this year. His successor, Bishop Richard Henning of Providence, was also a guest at the States Dinner; Supreme Patrick Kelly assured him of the Knights’ prayers and jokingly told him, “You have some big sandals to fill!”
In his address, Cardinal O’Malley warned Knights against what the pope has described as the “globalization of indifference” — indifference toward both the love and mercy of God and toward the suffering of others — adding that the antidotes to indifference are gratitude and compassion.
“During this Supreme Convention where we have the opportunity to gather with brothers and sisters in the community of faith, may we come to see how blessed we are,” he said. “The ideals and the goodness of Father McGivney, the fraternity and joy of being part of Jesus’ family, the witness of our fellow Knights and their families should fill us with gratitude. … This profound sense of gratitude will lead us to be constantly seeking how to express our gratitude in acts of forgiveness, mercy and love.”
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, archbishop emeritus of Québec, gave an invocation before the dinner, and the current archbishop of Québec, Archbishop Gérald Lacroix, gave welcoming remarks. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and president of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, also spoke, thanking the Knights of Columbus for their longstanding and ongoing support for restoration projects at St. Peter’s. Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore gave the closing prayer and led guests in singing the “Salve Regina.” #knightscon24
About the Knights of Columbus
In 1882, Blessed Michael McGivney, a young parish priest in New Haven, Connecticut, 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 the world’s premier lay Catholic
men’s organization, with more than 2.1 million members in over 16,800 local councils. As
members of one of the world’s leading international charitable organizations, Knights around the
world donated approximately 50 million service hours and nearly $185 million for worthy causes
in their communities in 2022. The Knights of Columbus also offers a range of life insurance
products to members and their families and was named by Forbes as one of America’s Best
Insurance Companies 2024 in the permanent life insurance category. Knights of Columbus
Insurance currently has more than $123 billion* of life insurance in force. In addition, the
organization offers investment services in accord with Catholic social teaching through its
wholly owned subsidiary, Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors, which holds more than $27
billion** in assets under management. Based on the founding principles of charity, unity and
fraternity, the Knights of Columbus is 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.
Source: Combined posts from the Official Facebook page of the Knights of Columbus
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