Supreme Knight’s Report Highlights K of C’s Charity, Growth & Commitment to the Faith

132nd International Convention hears of first council in Korea 

ORLANDO, Fla., Aug. 6, 2014 /Christian Newswire/ — The Knights of Columbus has set a new record in charitable giving, is continuing to experience membership growth, and has established a new council in South Korea, said the organization’s supreme knight in his annual report to the Knights’ 132nd annual international convention in Orlando.

“Florida is a fitting place for us to remember the great Catholic contribution to our hemisphere,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson as he opened his report. “Before the colonies of Jamestown and Plymouth, the first permanent European settlement was here in Florida, and it was Catholic.”

The supreme knight spoke to an audience of nearly 90 archbishops and bishops, including 11 cardinals, scores of clergy and approximately 2,000 members of the Knights and their families from throughout North and Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Europe.

The annual convention — centered this year on the theme “You Will All Be Brothers: Our Vocation to Fraternity” — was drawn from the message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Peace, in which the Holy Father observed: “Without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society.”

“This sense of fraternity is at the foundation of our call,” said Anderson. “Our charitable activity is all the more effective because it is supported by our fraternal brotherhood.”

For the 14th consecutive year, Anderson reported, the Knights set a new record in charitable giving, with over $170 million and 70.5 million hours of voluntary service given during 2013. According to independent sector, the time donated by Knights to charity was worth more than $1.6 billion.

In addition, “During the fraternal year ending June 30, our membership grew for the 42nd consecutive year,” said Anderson. The Knights now has more than 1.8 million members.

He also announced that the Knights has established St. Andrew Kim Taegon Council 16000, the first K of C council in South Korea.

“There are nearly 5.5 million Catholics in South Korea today. It is the fastest growing Catholic community in the world,” said Anderson. “I am sure that South Korea, like the Philippines, will play a significant role in the future of the Knights of Columbus.”

Other developments reported by the supreme knight included:

• By percentage, the Knights grew the most in Poland, where membership increased by more than 23 percent. Notable growth has also being achieved in Ukraine and Lithuania.
• Texas membership grew by two percent last year, making it the only jurisdiction in North America to top 100,000 members.
• In October, the Knights will launch “Building the Domestic Church: The Family Fully Alive” to help families and parishes offer opportunities for daily prayer, catechesis, Scripture reading, charitable projects and social activities.
• The Knights’ New Evangelization Series includes new booklets on prayer, the Eucharist, the theology of the body, marriage and consecrated life.
• The Knights responded quickly and creatively to disasters in the Philippines and North America.
• The Knights added 15 college councils last year, and now has 302 campus councils with 27,000 members.
• More Catholic families are protected by the Knights’ insurance program than ever before with $8.2 billion in new insurance issued last year — another annual record.
• The new Young Adult Insurance Program provides annual renewable term insurance at competitive rates to Knights and their spouses ages 18-29.
• The Knights remains fully committed to Church teaching and supporting Pope Francis and the bishops in defending religious freedom.
• The Knights has made great strides in bringing people together in appreciating the gift of life. The K of C ultrasound initiative has added 480 ultrasound machines to pregnancy resource centers in the United States, Canada and beyond, bringing together mothers and their unborn children in an important way. In addition, the K of C-Marist polling has continued to uncover an ever-growing consensus on life issues and a solid consensus in favor of greater abortion restrictions in the United States.

Follow #KofCFL14 on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ for live coverage of the Knights’ 132nd International Convention.

New Poll Finds Nearly 8 in 10 Americans ‘Frustrated’ by Tone of Political Campaigns

Vast majorities say problem is getting worse and is harmful to country’s political process

Contact: Andrew Walther, Knights of Columbus, 203-824-5412, Andrew.Walther@kofc.org

NEW HAVEN, Conn., July 24, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — Highlighting the angst of the American electorate over negative campaigning and personal attacks, a new Knights of Columbus-Marist poll finds that the public is increasingly frustrated with the tone of political campaigns and sees the problem getting worse.

The July 2012 survey also found that a strong consensus of Americans believes such negative campaigning is ultimately harmful to the political process.

Nearly 8 in 10 Americans (78 percent) say they are “frustrated” by the tone of political campaigns. Almost three-quarters say the problem is getting worse: 74 percent believe that the tone of political campaigns has “gotten more negative” than in past election years.

In addition, two-thirds of Americans (66 percent) believe candidates spend more time criticizing their opponents than addressing the issues, while almost as many (64 percent) say negative campaign ads “harm the political process” either “a great deal” or “a significant amount.”

And by a nearly 20 point margin (56 to 37 percent), the public says the tone of political campaigns is “mostly uncivil and disrespectful.” That number grows to 59 percent among registered voters.

“The American people want and deserve civility and a conversation on the issues rather than the personal vilification of political opponents,” said Knights of Columbus

English: Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

. “As this current data makes all too clear, the American people want a political discussion that is civil and respectful. As Americans, we understand that we may not agree on every aspect of every issue, but we also understand that how we disagree says a great deal about who we are as a nation.”

Anderson’s 2010 book “Beyond a House Divided” chronicled previous surveys that showed a broad dissatisfaction concerning the political process among the American people, while finding that on many issues, there is far more unanimity of opinion among the public than is generally acknowledged.

The telephone survey of 1,010 adults was conducted from July 9, 2012 through July 11, 2012. It has a margin of error within +/- 3.0 percentage points.

More information on the poll is available at www.kofc.org

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Knights of Columbus Sets New Records for Charitable Contributions

English: Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 11, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ — The Knights of Columbus announced today that it set new all-time records for charitable donations and volunteer service hours in 2011. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson released the results of the Catholic fraternal organization’s annual survey in a presentation to its board of directors and state leaders, meeting June 6-10 at its international headquarters.

The results of the K of C’s Annual Survey of Fraternal Activity for the year ending Dec. 31, 2011 indicate that total charitable contributions reached $158,084,514 — exceeding the previous year’s total by more than $3.4 million. The figure includes $29,183,386 donated by the Supreme Council and $128,901,128 in contributions from the organization’s state and local affiliates. Overall contributions increased for the 12th consecutive year.

Large donations during the period included $7.5 million in support of priestly and religious vocations, $3.6 million for Special Olympics, $515,000 for the organization’s Coats for Kids program and continuing support of a joint program with Project Medishare to provide prosthetics to Haitian children who lost limbs during the January 2010 earthquake.

The survey also indicated that the quantity of volunteer service hours to charitable causes by Knights grew to 70,053,149 — an increase of 3,716 hours compared to the 2010 total. At a national average value of $21.79 per service hour according to Independent Sector, the total value of the Knights’ service hours last year exceeds $1.5 billion.

Among the service programs receiving significant K of C volunteer hours were the Coats for Kids project, Special Olympics, and the Global Wheelchair Mission.

There were also more than 418,000 K of C blood donations during the year.

Cumulative figures show that during the past decade, the Knights of Columbus has donated $1.406 billion to charity, and provided more than 653 million hours of volunteer service in support of charitable initiatives.

“At a time when many in our communities continue to experience economic hardship, the increasing charitable work of the Knights of Columbus is a testament to the power of love of neighbor and to the great things that can be done by those committed to the common good,” said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.

The Knights of Columbus was founded by Father Michael J. McGivney, a New Haven parish priest, in 1882. It has grown into the world’s largest lay Catholic organization, with more than 1.8 million members throughout North and Central America, the Philippines, the Caribbean and Poland.

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