Our Shared Responsibility

June 1, 2023

As Knights and lay leaders, we must model the call of all the baptized to participate in the Church’s mission of evangelization

By Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly

June 1, 2023

Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly (Photo by Michael Collopy)

A great blessing of my role as supreme knight is the opportunity to periodically update the Holy Father about the activities of the Knights of Columbus. It’s always a moment of grace to be with the successor of St. Peter, expressing the Order’s solidarity with him and with all our bishops and priests. And it’s a real privilege to share with the Holy Father so much good news about the tremendous efforts of our 2 million brother Knights.

During my meeting with Pope Francis in April, I spoke about some of our remarkable charitable work, and I also discussed the increased focus that we’ve been placing on evangelization and the formation of men as husbands and fathers.

I explained that this is an extension of the active sense of “co-responsibility” between clergy and laity that Blessed Michael McGivney built into the Knights of Columbus — some 80 years before the Second Vatican Council underscored “the responsibility of the laity in the Church” (Lumen Gentium, 37). The Holy Father responded with great conviction, saying that our example of co-responsibility is extremely important. He urged me and Archbishop Lori to talk more about it — and so we will!

When Blessed Michael McGivney founded the Order 141 years ago, he didn’t envision his Knights simply as helpful men in the community, but rather as men who embraced a real responsibility — alongside their priests — to advance the mission of the Church. This is one reason Father McGivney entrusted the Order’s leadership to laymen.

Throughout our history, this co-responsibility can be seen in our commitment to works of charity, especially the care of widows and orphans. Co-responsibility also led us to defend the Church from threats such as attacks from the Ku Klux Klan, nativist attempts to prohibit Catholic schools, and the persecution of the Church in Mexico in the early 20th century.

When Blessed Michael McGivney founded the Order, he didn’t envision his Knights simply as helpful men in the community, but rather as men who embraced a real responsibility to advance the mission of the Church.

More recently, Knights have modeled leadership and co-responsibility in the pro-life movement, the defense of religious liberty, and countless works of charity in our communities and around the world. For most Knights, our co-responsibility involves simply being available to the parish — being ready to help “Father” with anything he needs. And today, it increasingly means creating opportunities for men to deepen their faith, such as through our new Cor initiative.

Our cultural circumstances have changed. Christianity is no longer the formative basis of our society that it once was, which is evident in the large number of people who have left the faith or have no faith at all. If the Church is to thrive, each and every baptized Catholic — bishops and priests, religious, catechists, moms and dads — must engage actively in our shared responsibility to evangelize. In other words, our co-responsibility for the mission of the Church is more vital than ever.

On the individual level, taking on this responsibility can begin with Christ-centered friendships — friendships that seek to build up and challenge each other to something greater. It can involve taking the chance to share your faith with someone, explaining what your faith means to you and why you’re Catholic. And it includes the realization that each of us is personally called to holiness, and then making the decision that I am going to do something about that.

As lay leaders, Knights can go places and reach other men in a way that our priests often can’t. And the witness that we give in those places can draw men into deeper relationship with the sacramental life of the Church.

For decades, the Knights of Columbus has been called “the strong right arm of the Church.” To continue to live up to this title, Knights must answer the call to co-responsibility according to the needs of our time.

Vivat Jesus!

Our Shared Responsibility

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