New Supreme Warden Installed

Jorge Carlos Estrada Avilés, state deputy of Mexico South, installed in new role during ceremony Feb. 11

Jorge Carlos Estrada Avilés was installed Feb. 11 as supreme warden of the Knights of Columbus after a Mass celebrated by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, Fla. The Mass and installation took place during a meeting of the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors, Feb. 11-13.

As supreme warden, Avilés’ primary role will be managing meetings of the board of directors and Supreme Officers, including the annual Supreme Convention. He succeeds Michael Benson of Rhode Island, who served in the position from Sept. 10, 2020 and was elected to the board of directors in August 2022.

Avilés, 63, is also state deputy of Mexico South. He has served the Church in various capacities, including as national president of the Mexican National Council of the Laity (2013-2019) and as a member of the Mexico delegation at the International Meeting on the Promotion and Formation of the Laity organized by the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life in 2018.

A 1981 graduate of the Autonomous University of Yucatán, Avilés practices law and teaches at the Marist University of Mérida. He and his wife, María Dolores Fritz Sierra, are the parents of five adult children and six grandchildren.