Anthony R. Picarello Jr.

Supreme Advocate

Anthony R. Picarello Jr. was appointed Supreme Advocate of the Knights of Columbus by the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors on June 20, 2025. Prior to his appointment, he served as the executive director of the Saint John Paul II National Shine in Washington, D.C., since August 2023. He continues to have executive oversight over the Shrine in his new role.

For the preceding 16 years, Mr. Picarello was the associate general secretary and general counsel for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), also in Washington. As associate general secretary, Mr. Picarello oversaw the policy and advocacy work of the USCCB, and as general counsel, he led the office that serves as in-house counsel to the USCCB and administers the National Diocesan Attorneys Association.

He joined the Bishops’ Conference after seven years litigating First Amendment cases at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Before that, he spent three years as a litigation associate at Covington & Burling in Washington, following a federal district court clerkship.

Mr. Picarello has addressed different aspects of the relationship between religion and the law through live, print, and digital media, scholarly articles, and lectures at conferences, seminars, and law schools across the country. In January 2007, he was named to The American Lawyer's list of the top 50 litigators under age 45.

Mr. Picarello earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School, his A.M. in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and his A.B., magna cum laude, in Social Anthropology and Comparative Religion from Harvard University. A dedicated Knight of Columbus, he is a member of Cathedral Council 6790 in Arlington, Virginia.