Last week, the Catholic faith celebrated two important dates in the religious calendar.
The first was the Feast of the Assumption, marking the day Mother Mary’s body and soul was assumed into heavenly glory to be reunited with her Son.
The second was the celebration of the feast day for Blessed Michael McGivney — the founder of the Knights of Columbus.
Since 1882, the Catholic Church’s fraternal service order has been ministering “to promote such social and intellectual intercourse among its members as shall be desirable and proper.”
Early on in the service order, the Knights, as an organization, provided certain financial services to members and other Catholic institutions as well as laity.
This tradition comes out of the beginning tenets of the organization to be a mutually beneficial society for working-class and immigrant Catholics coming to the United States.
The endeavor has been so successful that now, its wholly-owned insurance company, one of the largest in the world, underwrites more than two million insurance contracts, totaling more than $121 billion, according to 2023 figures. This would make the Knights of Columbus comparable to a Fortune 1,000 company based on revenue.
Because the organization makes sure its investments are in accordance with Catholic social teachings, it allows Catholics to practice their faith while being active in the financial markets.
The service order also owns the Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors, a money management firm that allows institutional investors to follow a similar investment strategy.
Setting aside the Knights of Columbus’ business activities, the organization’s strongest endeavor — based on Blessed McGivney’s example — is charitable work.
According to Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, in 2022, the over two-million-member organization donated $185 million and 49 million volunteer hours toward charity projects.
From its beginnings, the Knights offered employment services and provided aid to the poor and sick at the local level through their individual councils.
In keeping with its Catholic social teachings and beliefs, the organization donated more than 1,000 ultrasound machines to crisis pregnancy centers over a decade, beginning in 2009.
Throughout the last 142 years, the Knights of Columbus have stayed true to Blessed McGivney’s original thoughts to be a mutual aid society for the assistance of Catholics through their good deeds.
Although Blessed McGivney died of pneumonia at just 38 years old, he created a legendary, faithful, evangelical movement that has stood the test of time and is a principal example of Catholicism in America.