Delegates to the 140th Supreme Convention met Aug. 2-4 in Nashville, Tennessee, gathering in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The virtual became real as handshakes and face-to-face conversations replaced the videoconferences of the last two years. Fraternal and family events on hiatus since 2019 resumed, kicking off with a welcome concert and award session at the Grand Ole Opry House on Aug. 1. Mass was celebrated each day, with dozens of bishops and priests concelebrating.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly underscored the spirit of joy and fraternity as he began his annual report Aug. 2, saying, “It’s good to be with you. After three long years, the Supreme Convention is in person again. We are back where we belong!”
However, he quickly turned from the past to the future, outlining the work ahead and calling on Knights everywhere to step up in the face of cultural challenges.
“A Knight is a leader who stands in the breach,” the supreme knight said in his report. “We defend the faith. We protect the family. And when a need arises, we rise to meet it — with charity, unity and fraternity.”
The theme of this year’s convention — Into the Breach — echoes the popular K of C video series and faith program aimed at strengthening men to live out their vocations as husbands, fathers, and defenders of human dignity and the most vulnerable.
A letter of greeting from Pope Francis, sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, underscored “the outstanding public witness of your Order to the defense of marriage and the family, and to the God-given dignity of all human life,” and thanked the Knights of Columbus for its ongoing work to support Ukrainian refugees and persecuted Christians.
During the convention, Supreme Knight Kelly applauded a number of exemplary witnesses to the highest ideals of the Order, including his predecessor, Past Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, whom he thanked for his years of tireless and visionary service. With Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the supreme knight also presented the inaugural Blessed Michael McGivney Medal to Father Matthew Keller, past state chaplain of New Mexico, and at the States Dinner, he conferred the St. Michael Award upon Ukraine State Deputy Youriy Maletskiy.
“The days ahead will be difficult. The road will be long,” Supreme Knight Kelly acknowledged in his report. “So let us set out as our Founder and the men before us did. And the Lord who has brought us this far will carry us further still. As together, we step into the breach.”
The following pages feature more information about the convention’s proceedings, including excerpts from homilies and addresses and the full text of the supreme knight’s report. For extended coverage, visit kofc.org/convention.
Knights, Councils Recognized for Outstanding Achievements
This year's Supreme Knight’s Award Session was held Aug. 1 in conjunction with a welcome concert for delegates and families at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. In between performances from The Hillbilly Thomists — a bluegrass band composed of Dominican friars — and country music singer Craig Morgan, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly honored exemplary councils, as well as the International Family of the Year and the inaugural recipient of the new Blessed Michael McGivney Medal. Below are details about the international program award winners and select honors for insurance sales and membership growth.
FAITH
“The Fisherman” is a men’s apostolate created by Sts. Anne and Joachim Council 11930 in Fargo, N.D., to help men grow in faith and virtue while also training them to become better servant leaders and missionary disciples. Participants spend eight months praying together and studying Scripture. Candidates learn about authentic masculinity, prayer and encountering Christ through the sacraments. The course ends with a workshop on evangelization, and graduates are asked to discern whether God is calling them to lead a small group through the program the next year.
FAMILY
When Fort Belvoir (Va.) Council 11170 learned that an estimated 200 families at the U.S. Army base had trouble putting food on the table, it created the Leave No Military Family Behind initiative to provide assistance. The Knights’ initial goal was to provide $5,000 in commissary gift cards to Fort Belvoir’s Army Community Service; they succeeded in doubling that amount, and their efforts helped more than 150 military families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
COMMUNITY
Members of St. Wojciech Patron of Poland Council 15267 in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland, helped construct a “Tent of Hope and Mercy” to welcome Ukrainian refugees to the Polish border town of Hrebenne only three days after the Russian invasion. Volunteers provided the refugees — mostly women, children and the elderly — with around-the-clock assistance, including food, childcare, first aid and transportation to reception points. The Mercy Center, as it came to be named, was enlarged March 15 with support from the Order’s Ukraine Solidarity Fund® and the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and a chapel was added where priests and religious sisters offered refugees spiritual support. The Mercy Center hosted an estimated 300,000 people before it closed due to reduced traffc at the border.
LIFE
St. Clare of Assisi Council 9708 in Houston has supported Loving Choice, a local pregnancy care center, from its earliest days. This past year, members of Council 9708 provided labor and supplies to help the center renovate and expand its space by 50%. One Knight sponsored a construction crew to install flooring and baseboards; other Knights upgraded electrical outlets, painted rooms and built custom cabinets. In addition to their hands-on work, the council donated $2,500 in baby items collected from their parish and a check for $6,500.
Leading general agents: Héctor Lebrón-Sanabria of Puerto Rico (229% of quota) and Juan Carlin of Texas (218% of quota).
Leading field agents: Joseph Carlin of the Carlin Agency in Texas (1,096% of quota) and Jody Supak of the Supak Agency in Texas (589% of quota).
Top recruiters: Past State Deputy Noel Panlilio of California was recognized as the top recruiter of 2021-2022 for the Order’s insurance territories, signing up 154 members. Noel Lacanilao of Manila (Luzon South) Council 1000 was recognized as the top recruiter of the Order’s non-insurance territories for signing up 392 members.
Chaplain Awarded Blessed Michael McGivney Medal
Father Matthew Keller, a priest of the Diocese of Gallup, was honored Aug. 1 with the inaugural Blessed Michael McGivney Medal, a new award to recognize exemplary Knights of Columbus chaplains. In his many years as a chaplain, including five years as state chaplain of New Mexico, Father Keller has helped the Knights of Columbus grow in faith and numbers. At the same time, he has found creative ways to serve and evangelize the people of his diocese, the poorest in the United States.,
Born and raised in a Catholic family on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, Father Keller gave up a budding country music songwriting career when he entered seminary in the 1990s. He joined the Knights of Columbus following his ordination due to the support he received from the Order’s RSVP program. He currently serves as the chaplain of Fray Marcos Council 1783 and Fray Marcos de Niza Assembly 686, both in Gallup.
As state chaplain, Father Keller received permissionfrom the bishops of New Mexico to be in regular contact with the state’s priests. He encouraged them to become more involved in council life, leading to a spiritual revival among councils and a surge in membership. The New Mexico jurisdiction achieved membership growth awards four times during his tenure.
Father Keller also fostered a growing number of vocations to the priesthood when he served as vocations director for the Diocese of Gallup. To pay for the education of these men, he partnered with New Mexico and Arizona Knights to start the V8s for Vocations program, in which volunteers, including many Knights, fix up classic V8 muscle cars to raffle off nationwide. The program raises more than $300,000 for vocations every year.
Now the vicar general of the Diocese of Gallup, Father Keller has been instrumental in fostering a liturgical and eucharistic revival in New Mexico and Arizona. He has a great devotion to the Eucharist and introduced eucharistic adoration at all state meetings while state chaplain.
In 2020, Father Keller contracted COVID-19 and had to be hospitalized for five weeks. A relic of Father McGivney was brought to his bed, a moment he recalled gratefully when he accepted the medal at the Supreme Knight’s Award Session.
“I feel as though I had already been honored to be visited by the intercession of Blessed Michael McGivney during my illness and recovery from COVID-19,” Father Keller said, adding, “It is my hope that this medal will be an outward and visible show of that invisible favor and a signal to all of us of his continued work for the good of the Order, in spreading the kingdom of God.”
The Blessed Michael McGivney Medal will be given annually to a Knights of Columbus chaplain whose priestly zeal and exemplary service reflect the life and legacy of the Order’s founder.
International Family of the Year Answers the Call to Serve
It's a rare occasion when the entire Sewell family — Austin, Tracey and their eight children — are all seated together in a pew for Sunday Mass at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus in Douglasville, Ga. Not because they’re not present, but because they are so involved: as altar servers, lectors, ushers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion or choir members.
“Anything the church needs, anything the Knights need, we take it as a personal call to action,” explained Austin Sewell, a member of St. John Paul II Council 10821 in Douglasville. Austin joined the Order 15 years ago while stationed on Okinawa, Japan, in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he brings a military appreciation for leadership, fraternity and practical service to his faith. Becoming a Knight, he said, was a natural step in growing as a Catholic man, husband and father.
“We’re all called, as Christians and Catholics, to be humble servants of the Lord,” he said. “I think the Knights really embody that. They are a shining example of faith in action.”
Austin currently serves as deputy grand knight of Council 10821 and has also worked as district warden, membership director and youth group coordinator.
He and Tracey have instilled the same desire to lead and serve in their kids. The Sewell children, ages 5 to 23, are familiar faces in the parish: serving Mass, cutting the grass with their dad, helping with council fundraisers, participating in the Walk for Life organized by a local pregnancy resource center. They are particularly involved in the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s annual Mass on Martin Luther King Day. The three oldest have followed their father into the military, and the two oldest boys, Robert and Logan, are Knights as well.
For Tracey, being recognized as the Knights of Columbus International Family of the Year feels humbling — and a little unreal.
“There are so many people that are doing so many wonderful things in the parish. To think that we were singled out as a family almost seems unfair,” she said. “But it’s a great honor.”
‘True Pastors in Our World’
“In this Mass, we’re keeping in mind in a special way this priest, this pastor — Blessed Michael McGivney. I was a pastor of parishes before I became bishop; it’s a great life — not an easy life, a great life. What is that life about, as pastor? In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we heard it spoken to us as unity, oneness in Christ. And the constant effort of Father Michael McGivney was to bring his flock together in Christ.
You see, Father McGivney wanted to bring the men of his time together. And he still brings men together to do good works in Jesus Christ, to learn how to be comfortable in the faith, and learn how to share the faith with others. To tell their sons and their grandsons, “It is the good. It is the beautiful. It is the truth to follow Jesus.” …
A good homily should send you forth to do certain things. So here we go. First, encourage your pastors, thanking them for their “yes” to their vocation; and call out to men to serve in the Church, especially as priests. …
Second, say to the people in your family — and start with your wife first — say “I love you.” Likewise say, “I love my faith. I love my Church. I love Jesus Christ. And as much as I love you, I want what’s best for you.” Finally, continue to go out to the margins, to those least among us, to those who need to be defended and protected, from conception to natural death, from womb to tomb. That is a great and wonderful calling of the Knights. …
If we proclaim and preach those Beatitudes that we heard from Matthew’s Gospel; if we make ourselves his disciples, and proclaim to others how we love the faith; if we live that faith accordingly, in our lives, our homes, our workplaces, our communities — ah, yes, we will be true pastors in our world.
Blessed Michael McGivney, pastor and priest, pray for us!”
— Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, Homily, Votive Mass of Blessed Michael McGivney, Aug. 2
‘A Knight for All Seasons’
This year's States Dinner, a festive event celebrating the Order’s jurisdictions with flags and songs, was also an occasion to celebrate the leadership of Past Supreme Knight Carl Anderson.
Anderson’s tenure as the 13th supreme knight of the Order spanned more than two decades, from 2000 to 2021. His successor, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, noted that the last two virtual conventions had prevented delegates from giving Past Supreme Knight Anderson the tribute he deserves. “Tonight,” he said, “we’ll make it right and honor Carl for his years of service to the Order and the Church.”
Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore spoke about his long friendship and collaboration with the past supreme knight.
“In 2005, Carl asked me to serve as supreme chaplain — a privilege for which I shall always be deeply grateful,” he said. “I mention this because it gave me a front row seat from which to witness Carl’s inspired leadership of the Knights of Columbus over the course of two decades, leading it to unprecedented growth in membership, in the expanse of its charities and insurance and financial products, but most of all in the breadth of its vision.”
Archbishop Lori underscored Anderson’s work to build a culture of life, including the establishment of the Knights of Columbus Ultrasound Initiative in 2009, and his swift and decisive action on behalf of persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.
“At this critical time in the life of our Church, Carl has modeled what it means to be a Catholic layman. And in so doing, he has become a true Catholic statesman.”
The supreme chaplain concluded: “Carl, you are not only a man of many interests and skills, but a disciple of the Lord; a man of faith, wisdom, insight born of the Holy Spirit; a man with a capacious mind and even more capacious heart.”
Supreme Knight Kelly similarly praised his predecessor’s achievements, emphasizing that they grew from his commitment to human dignity and his love for Jesus Christ and his Church.
“He has worked heroically to build a society where the God-given dignity of every life is protected and valued — and where God’s plan for marriage and family is embraced,” Supreme Knight Kelly said. “At this critical time in the life of our Church, Carl has modeled what it means to be a Catholic layman. And in so doing, he has become a true Catholic statesman. Carl Anderson surely is ‘A Knight for All Seasons.’”
In his own remarks, Anderson thanked his brother Knights for entrusting him with the office of supreme knight, which he described as “the greatest privilege of my life,” and he thanked especially his wife, Dorian, for her support and wise counsel. He also expressed his confidence and hope for the future of the Order, saying, “Let us go forward together under the leadership of the supreme knight with the conviction that the best is yet to come.”
State Deputy of Ukraine Honored
Ukraine State Deputy Youriy Maletskiy received the St. Michael Award during the States Dinner for his pivotal role in the Order’s humanitarian response to the war in his home country. The award, named after St. Michael the Archangel, recognizes exemplary service to the Knights of Columbus.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly noted that Maletskiy, whom he described as “one the busiest and bravest men in the entire Order,” faced a difficult decision between joining the military defense against Russian aggression and staying behind the front lines to lead relief efforts. Serving on the Archdiocese of Lviv’s Anti-Crisis Committee and coordinating the efforts of Ukrainian Knights, he has helped ensure the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout the country.
“In choosing to lead — and to lead well — Youriy has helped hundreds of thousands of men, women and children suffering in desperate circumstances,” the supreme knight said. “With the help of the Ukraine Solidarity Fund®, he has opened channels of support from Knights in Poland, the United States and around the world. In short, he has been an instrument of hope to the Ukrainian people.”
State Deputy Maletskiy thanked the Knights of Columbus and all present for their prayers, support and work “on behalf of a nation fighting for its existence and its freedom” and presented the supreme knight with a flag signed by Ukrainian soldiers.
“Let there be no doubt in your minds that this victory of which we dream is the triumph of good over evil, of freedom over slavery, of life over death,” Maletskiy told delegates and other guests. “The paschal Jesus is our hope and light at the time of the darkest of trials.”
‘Our Country Prospers When In God We Trust’
“Perhaps you've heard of this new terrorist cell, a reportedly dangerous group that some nations have actually deemed a threat to their national security. Nicaragua, for instance, has just expelled them, calling them treacherous. India, the country of this allegedly perilous group’s origin, severely restricted them, forbidding them to receive any funds from outside allies. I feel it is my heavy duty this evening to warn you, brother Knights, of this ominous, suspicious, menacing group. They are called the Missionaries of Charity, founded by that machete-wielding Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Why on God’s green earth would the simple, serving, humble, loving Missionaries of Charity be considered a threat to any government?
We know why, don’t we? The same reason the first Christians were deemed enemies of Caesar, the same reason priests in Mexico are being hounded and executed as I speak. The same reason Cardinal József Mindszenty of Hungary and Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński of Poland were arrested in the 1950s. Because these brave martyrs and confessors of the faith were convinced that absolute allegiance could only be given to the Lord.
No earthly power, money, government, nation, a presumed right, a drive or a cause can claim our complete trust — only God can. Those who want total dominion over us — totalitarianism is an apt word — thus despise faith. People of faith, you see, preserve an important acre of their identity for the Lord alone, and they’re willing to be harassed, exiled or even persecuted to protect that value. They’re ready to go into the breach, and that causes totalitarians to seethe, to threaten, to go after these treacherous folks who will not be completely subservient to what Dorothy Day called “Holy Mother State.” And thus, the first assault these regimes make is upon people of faith.
“No earthly power, money, government, nation, a presumed right, a drive or a cause can claim our complete trust — only God can. Those who want total dominion over us — totalitarianism is an apt word thus despise faith.”
Brother Knights, that Patrick Kelly honored me with the invitation to address you this evening gives me the chance, as chair of your bishops’ Committee on Religious Freedom, to thank you for your historic defense of this, our first and most cherished liberty. You see, from the start, our Founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, believed firmly in the American foundational principle that every person of whatever faith had the right to hold his head high in this republic, to freely and confidently exercise his religion. …
This led the sons of Michael McGivney to fight religious bigotry here in America, to coordinate the arrival of chaplains to serve our soldiers in World War I, to rise to the defense of our neighbors to the south as the Mexican government persecuted the Church, to oppose totalitarianism of the Nazis and fascists, to stand up for the Church oppressed by communism in Central and Eastern Europe, and to strengthen the Church here at home especially, in service to the poor, the oppressed, the racially segregated, the suffering in Haiti. And now, as I recently saw firsthand, those brave refugees from Ukraine. …
My brother Knights, into the breach we go — into the breach we’ve gone, we are going and will go — for God and country, realizing that our country prospers when In God We Trust, and our faith flourishes when our freedom to exercise it is guaranteed.”
— Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York, States Dinner keynote address, Aug. 2
‘The Source of Our Life’
“I stand before you today to invite you to join a movement. I join my voice to the voice of Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and even our Holy Father in his letter to all of you, who spoke to us about the importance of this movement for our time. The bishops of the United States have called for a National Eucharistic Revival. And I invite you to help us renew the Church by inviting everyone into a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. …
It is no secret that the bishops have called for this movement because of a crisis. The crisis facing our Church as we encounter an increasingly secularized world is profound. Studies seem to show that most Catholics, perhaps even as high as 70%, do not believe that Jesus is really present in the Blessed Sacrament. Certainly this has contributed to the profound numbers of people, especially young people, who have disaffiliated from the Church in our own age. …
The Eucharist is the source of our life! It is the strength of every Christian. It is the source of unity, charity and fraternity, which we seek to live. And many do not know this gift.
Pope Francis begins his latest apostolic letter on the Eucharist with this earnest plea to you and me: “The world still does not know it, but everyone is invited to the supper of the wedding of the Lamb (Rev 19:9). … We must not allow ourselves even a moment of rest, knowing that still not everyone has received an invitation to this Supper or knowing that others have forgotten it or have got lost along the way in the twists and turns of human living” (Desiderio desideravi, 5).
My brothers and sisters, the Holy Father is asking you, begging you, to become a eucharistic missionary, to let the world know: Jesus is waiting for them at this altar, longing for them at this altar. So many don’t know. So many have forgotten. We must go forth from here and share this life with the world.”
— Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., Homily, Votive Mass of the Holy Eucharist, Aug. 3
Three New Board Members Elected
Delegates to the 140th Supreme Convention elected three new members to the Knights of Columbus Board of Directors during the convention’s Aug. 3 business session. Each will serve a three-year term beginning Sept. 1, 2022.
Alfredo Vela has held leadership positions in the Knights of Columbus for more than 39 years, most recently as state deputy of Texas (2020-2022). Before his retirement, Vela worked as assistant superintendent for the La Joya Independent School Board, and he now serves as president of the advisory board to Immaculate Conception School at his home parish in Rio Grande City. A member of Don José de Escandón Council 9982 in Rio Grande City, Vela has two children with his wife, Rosa.
Jamey Roth has served in numerous leadership roles since he became a college Knight in 1985, including state deputy of Kansas from 2020 to 2022. His professional career has been dedicated to promoting the well-being of people with intellectual disabilities: He and his wife own a facility that supports these individuals, and he advises schools, agencies and families about how to help them live more independently. A member of St. Fidelis Council 1867 in Victoria, Roth and his wife, Angie, are the parents of three children and four foster children.
Michael McCusker, a Knight for nearly 35 years, served as state deputy of Tennessee from 2019 to 2021. A criminal prosecutor, McCusker now works as assistant district attorney general for the 30th Judicial District of Tennessee. He also served in the U.S. Army Reserves for more than two decades, including a deployment to Afghanistan from 2005 to 2007. McCusker is a member of St. Michael the Archangel Council 17578 in Memphis. He and his wife, Theresa, have three children.
Following Christ Into the Breach
“It was Jesus Christ, the victor over sin and death, who first went into the breach, where no one else could go. Armed only with the cross, he plunged into the depths of sin and death, emerging victorious. Now it is our turn — but we go not alone. Rather, in the living memorial that is the Eucharist, the Lord Jesus is with us so that you and I can obtain the strength we need to go ourselves into the breach, to win the victory “through him, with him, and in him.” …
Today, we celebrate the feast of a great shepherd of God’s people, St. John Vianney. In 1818, he was appointed pastor of the little French village of Ars. It was a dying parish. Few people went to Mass and fewer to confession. St. John Vianney transformed that parish. He made it a spiritual powerhouse. And how did he do it? His whole life and priesthood were centered on the Eucharist. United to the eucharistic Lord, he went into the breach, his own battle with the forces of evil, as also the spiritual struggles of the people he served heroically. …
The same is true of our Founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, a true shepherd for his parishioners at St. Mary’s in New Haven. The Eucharist stood at the heart of his priesthood, and the Knights of Columbus came into existence because this priest grappled with the challenges the men of his parish faced. With them, Father McGivney entered into the breach, deeply aware that he himself could not win through to victory unless and until he brought his people to victory in Christ.”
— Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, Homily, Memorial Mass, Feast of St. John Vianney, Aug. 4







