Celebrating the Election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV

WHEREAS, on May 8, 2025, at the Conclave following the death of Pope Francis, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected to the Chair of St. Peter as the 267th Bishop of Rome and supreme head of the Holy Roman Church; and

WHEREAS, a native of Chicago, Illinois, His Holiness is the first Pope born in the United States, as well as the first from the Order of St. Augustine, and the first holding Peruvian citizenship, which he gained after years of dedicated missionary service in that country; and

WHEREAS, in his episcopal motto, In Illo Uno Unum, words taken from a sermon of St. Augustine, the Holy Father expresses the teaching that we are all one in the one Savior, Jesus Christ; and

WHEREAS, in the early weeks of his pontificate, Pope Leo extolled the virtues of charity, unity and fraternity, principles of the Knights of Columbus which also complement the principles of the Augustinian order; and

WHEREAS, on July 4, 2025, U.S. Independence Day, Pope Leo received in private audience at the Vatican Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly and Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, during which meeting the Order’s leaders spoke of the charitable and faith formation activities of the Knights of Columbus, as well as the mission given to the Order at its founding by Blessed Michael McGivney.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council, on behalf of the more than 2.1 million members worldwide and their families, promises its constant loyalty to Pope Leo XIV as he leads the Universal Church as the successor of St. Peter and Vicar of Christ on earth; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members of the Order will accompany Pope Leo XIV and support him through our prayers, invoking especially the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of the Church, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and

FURTHER RESOLVED, that this resolution be entered into the proceedings of this 143rd Annual Meeting of the Supreme Council held August 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C., and that an inscribed copy be prepared for presentation to the Holy Father.

Celebrating the Election of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV

Resolutions