A Monumental Experience

U.S. capital welcomes Knights for the 143rd Supreme Convention

By Cecilia Engbert

Aug. 4, 2025

The Knights of Columbus Board of Directors gather outside the White House following a meeting with President Calvin Coolidge in April 1926. — Members of the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors, including Supreme Knight James A. Flaherty and Supreme Advocate Luke E. Hart, gather outside the White House following a meeting with President Calvin Coolidge in April 1926. (Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archive)

The annual Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention was hosted in Washington, D.C., for the first time in 1932 — coinciding with both the Order’s golden jubilee and the U.S. celebration of George Washington’s 200th birthday. This year, Knights and their families from 75 jurisdictions around the world flock once more to the U.S. capital for the 143rd Supreme Convention from Aug. 5-7 — following the 125th anniversary of the Fourth Degree and on the eve of the nation’s 250th birthday, to be celebrated next July.

This year’s convention is the sixth to be hosted in Washington, with other D.C. conventions taking place in 1985, 1993, 2003 and 2010.

On Aug. 2, the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors gathered with the District of Columbia state officers and convention chairman for a pre-convention vigil Mass celebrated by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori in the Redemptor Hominis Church of the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.

During the welcome reception following the Mass, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly offered words of gratitude to State Deputy Nicholas Shields and the D.C. State Council for hosting this year’s convention. He also acknowledged the impact of local Knights on the Order — particularly noting the impressive list of D.C. Knights who have gone on to serve the Supreme Council, including Past Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, who like Supreme Knight Kelly himself, served the jurisdiction as state deputy.

“This convention promises to be a great one — both for the D.C. State Council and for the whole Order,” Supreme Knight Kelly said in conclusion. “To all of my brother Knights here in D.C. — keep up the great work. We’re really proud of everything that you’re doing and we will have a great convention.”

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly addresses Washington, D.C., Knights and their spouses during a pre-convention welcome reception at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in D.C.(Photo by Tamino Petelinšek) — Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly addresses Washington, D.C., Knights and their spouses during a pre-convention welcome reception at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in D.C. *(Photo by Tamino Petelinšek)*

The history of the Knights of Columbus in Washington dates back almost as far as the Order’s founding and Knights remain a visible and active presence in the nation’s capital, playing a significant role in shaping the city’s spiritual, civic and charitable life. Since the District of Columbia’s first council, Keane Council 353, was established in 1897, the number of councils in the jurisdiction has grown to 27, including three college councils.

Long before Blessed Michael McGivney was born in the mid-19th century, U.S. Catholics were making their mark on the development and governance of the nation. In his 1932 annual report, Supreme Knight Martin H. Carmody remarked on the city’s Catholic history, highlighting several figures who influenced not only the capital, but the entire nation, in its early years.

“It will be remembered and is a source of much pride to Catholics that in this territory, then embraced by the Maryland colony, there was first promulgated in this country those great principles of religious liberty, later made a part of the Constitution of the United States, which guarantee to every citizen the free exercise of his religion,” Carmody said.

Among the most influential early U.S. Catholics were members of the Carroll family, a prominent Maryland family that lived on land that became present-day Washington. The family included Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, and his brother Daniel Carroll, a Founding Father who signed the U.S. Constitution and was appointed by President George Washington to survey and lay out the new capital city at the end of the 18th century. Their cousin Charles Carroll was one of Maryland’s representatives to the Continental Congress and became the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Others of note include Army Major Charles Pierre L’Enfant, who helped conceptualize and erect the capital city of Washington; James Hoban, designer of the White House; and the first D.C. mayor, Robert Brent, who was appointed mayor by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802 and held that office for a decade.

Since the early 20th century, the Knights of Columbus has played a pivotal role in enhancing the Catholic legacy in Washington. The iconic Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at Union Station, built with support from the Knights, was dedicated in 1912, and some 20,000 Knights attended the inauguration, which was overseen by President William Taft.

Fourth Degree honor guard stands at attention during a Marian Year Mass in Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 1954. (Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archives) — Fourth Degree honor guard stands at attention during a Marian Year Mass in Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 1954. *(Knights of Columbus Multimedia Archives)*

On April 23, 1918, the U.S. Congress granted to the Knights of Columbus permission to erect a memorial to Cardinal James Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death in 1921, who was instrumental in establishing The Catholic University of America (CUA). The memorial, erected in Rock Creek Park in 1928, was dedicated during the 50th Supreme Convention in 1932. The first monument to a Catholic priest or bishop in the nation’s capital, it stands as an impressive tribute to Cardinal Gibbons and the Church’s valuable contributions throughout U.S. history.

A major part of the Knights’ D.C. footprint is found at CUA. For over a century, the Order has maintained a close relationship with the university, beginning with an endowed chair in American history in 1904. The university’s law school, founded in 1898, merged with Columbus University — which was established by the Knights in 1919 to serve World War I veterans — in 1954 to become the Columbus School of Law.

The Order’s Bicentennial of the U.S. Hierarchy Fund aided construction of the current law school building in 1994. In 2008, the Supreme Council funded the renovation of a Catholic University campus building, now called McGivney Hall, to house the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Most recently, the Knights contributed $1 million to establish an endowed chair at the Columbus School of Law in 2022.

Bordering the university, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception also shares a special connection with the Knights. Thanks to a $1 million contribution from the Supreme Council, the Knights Tower at the National Shrine was completed along with the basilica in 1959, and K of C support of the shrine has continued through various projects, including a $1 million donation toward the construction of the Knights of Columbus Incarnation Dome in 2007. In 2023, a new statue of Blessed Michael McGivney, gifted by the Order, was installed in the shrine’s lower level. And Knights from D.C., Virginia and Maryland have long served the shrine by volunteering as ushers.

Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, blesses the new statue with holy water — Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, blesses the new statue of Blessed Michael McGivney at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception with holy water as Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and Msgr. Walter Rossi (right), rector of the National Shrine, look on. *(Photo by Matthew Barrick)*

In 2011, the Order established what several years later would become the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, a site for pilgrimage and evangelization in the heart of the nation’s capital.

Amid Washington’s myriad national landmarks and religious monuments, more than 3,000 Knights and their families continue Father McGivney’s tradition of charity, unity and fraternity. For more than five decades, Knights in the District of Columbia and Virginia have supported the national March for Life in Washington each January. D.C. Knights also fund scholarships for local Catholic high school students and partner with the Global Wheelchair Mission to provide wheelchairs to the Washington VA Medical Center.

This week, Knights from around the world are visiting the city during the Supreme Convention. They and their families have the opportunity to visit national memorials and museums, tour the institutions that power the U.S. government, and see several other religious and historical sites in Washington and the surrounding area.

The convention’s opening Mass will be celebrated at the National Shrine on Tuesday, Aug. 5, at 9:30 a.m., and the opening business session will begin at 1:30 p.m. For more information about the 143rd Supreme Convention and to follow the proceedings, visit kofc.org/convention.

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CECILIA ENGBERT is a content producer for the Knights of Columbus Communications Department.