An Invitation Still Open

November 4, 2026

Twenty years after the first councils were established in Poland, Knights continue to help men live out the faith through prayer, fraternity and works of mercy

By Jarosław Herman

November 4, 2026

Knights of Columbus gather on the steps of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń in Licheń Stary, Poland, on May 15 during Poland’s 16th State Convention. The May 15-16 gathering celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Order’s presence in Poland. (Photo by Sebastian Nycz)

More than 400 Knights of Columbus, family members, clergy and other guests gathered at the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń in Licheń Stary on May 15, 2026, to celebrate the Order’s 20th anniversary in Poland.

An anniversary Mass took place during the jurisdiction’s 16th State Convention, held May 15-16, and included the veneration of relics of Blessed Michael McGivney and St. John Paul II. Since the Order’s expansion to Poland in 2006 — fulfilling the Polish pope’s request to bring the Knights’ work to his homeland — it has grown to include nearly 9,000 members in more than 200 councils.

Deputy Supreme Knight Arthur Peters, who represented the Supreme Officers and the board of directors at the event, noted that the anniversary underscores the strong witness of the Knights in Poland.

Over the past 20 years, Knights have led the way in supporting prayer and building community within parishes around the country and have assisted victims of natural disasters and refugees displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“I’ve seen the fraternity and the joy that they bring to work they do in their parishes,” Peters said. “We’re very happy to celebrate 20 years of success of the Order here in Poland. The Knights in Poland are very active and very strong and are living out the vision of Blessed Michael McGivney through putting our principles into action.”

CALLING MEN TO ACTION

Newly elected Polish state officers stand outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń in Licheń Stary, Poland. — Newly elected Polish state officers, including State Deputy Michał Bartoszko (third from left), stand with Deputy Supreme Knight Arthur Peters (center) and Supreme Warden Andrzej Anasiak (at right) outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń in Licheń Stary, Poland, in May 2026. The Poland state convention, which took place May 14-15, marked the 20th anniversary of the Knights of Columbus in Poland. (Photo by Sebastian Nycz)

In December 2005, Andrzej Anasiak was invited by his pastor, Father Wiesław Lenartowicz, to meet with Knights visiting Radom from Canada and the United States.

Anasiak was looking for a community in which he could become more active in the Church. After meeting the visiting Knights, he knew this was the brotherhood for him and began inviting other men to join as well.

“About two weeks later, around 60 men came to the first meeting with candidates in Radom,” he said. “The result was an exemplification held on March 4, 2006, at the seminary in Radom, attended by 56 men from our diocese.”

At the time, Anasiak could not have predicted that in 2014 he would be elected Poland’s state deputy and would later serve the Order as supreme warden.

Radom was one of six cities and towns, along with Kraków, Ludźmierz, Łomianki, Łomża and Starachowice, where Poland’s first councils were established in 2006.

Father Lenartowicz, chaplain of Our Lady of Częstochowa, Queen of Poland Council 14004 and a former associate state chaplain, remembered the invitation as an opportunity to draw men into parish life.

“We received a proposal from the Knights of Columbus to engage men, to help them discover their place in the Church and, through that, their own identity,” he said.

The parish church of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Radom, home to Council 14004, was designated a diocesan shrine of Blessed Michael McGivney on Sept. 6, 2026, with Father Lenartowicz as its rector.

Then-Supreme Knight Carl Anderson presents the charter for Council 14023 in Starachowice, Poland, to Grand Knight Leszek Waksmundzki during a dinner in Częstochowa in May 2007. — Then-Supreme Knight Carl Anderson presents the charter for Council 14023 in Starachowice, Poland, to Grand Knight Leszek Waksmundzki during a dinner in Częstochowa in May 2007, as Territorial Deputy Andrzej Gut-Mostowy looks on. Gut-Mostowy, Poland’s first territorial deputy, helped establish the Order’s presence in the country after its first members were received in 2006. (Knights of Columbus Archives)

Past State Deputy Tomasz Wawrzkowicz said two decades of service also changed perceptions about the Order within Poland. The unfamiliar organization gradually came into focus as parishioners and priests saw what Knights actually do.

“Through the works we carry out,” Wawrzkowicz said, “we have shown what the Knights are and why they belong in a parish.”

For State Deputy Michał Bartoszko, that parish involvement serves the Order’s enduring mission of protecting families and leading men to Christ. Since the fall of 2020, Polish Knights have held days of reflection on St. John Paul II’s teachings about the Ten Commandments, the dignity of human life and other topics. Councils throughout Poland have also embraced Cor, the Orderwide men’s faith formation initiative, offering members another opportunity to deepen their faith.

Defending life from conception to natural death brings prayer and formation together with practical help, including support for homes for single mothers and hospices, Bartoszko explained. He pointed to Father McGivney’s work with families as an inspiration.

“Our founder could have thrown up his hands and said, ‘Times are difficult,’” Bartoszko said. “But he moved from recognizing that times were difficult to taking action.”

Bartoszko described a practice his first grand knight taught him: Connect every work of charity with prayer, and every prayer initiative with a work of mercy. Knights pray before packing supplies for Ukraine or traveling to help flood victims; men attending days of formation bring supplies for homeless outreach or homes for single mothers.

ROOTED IN THE PARISH

The combination of faith and service has also sustained Knights through national crises. Past State Deputy Krzysztof Zuba led the Polish jurisdiction through the COVID-19 pandemic and the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Deputy Supreme Knight Arthur Peters addresses participants in Poland’s 16th State Convention in Licheń Stary, Poland. — Deputy Supreme Knight Arthur Peters addresses participants in Poland’s 16th State Convention in Licheń Stary, Poland, on May 15. (Photo by Sebastian Nycz)

He recalled how quickly Knights responded when the invasion began in February 2022.

“The war broke out on Thursday, and the first truck with humanitarian aid from the Knights of Columbus left [Poland] the following Monday,” Zuba said.

At the Hrebenne and Budomierz crossings on Poland’s border with Ukraine, local Knights organized aid stations called “Mercy Centers” that offered refugees basic assistance, safety and a place to rest and pray. Councils collected supplies for Ukraine and helped displaced families in Poland; by the time of the convention in May 2026, Polish Knights had sent more than 200,000 care packages to Ukraine.

“This work reaches around the world and is the finest witness to the Knights of Columbus’ charity, patriotism and simple humanity — to Christian help for others,” said Andrzej Gut-Mostowy, Poland’s first territorial deputy, who helped establish the Order’s presence in the country and led its early development.

At parish-based Mercy Centers, help for displaced Ukrainians continues.

“Here in Poland, one of the programs that’s been very successful over the last few years has been the Mercy Centers,” Peters said.

Past State Deputy Marek Ziętek saw the same commitment to service when record rainfall in September 2024 caused widespread flooding in Central Europe, killing more than 25 people and causing billions of dollars of property damage.

A state council relief committee coordinated aid, while district deputies organized shipments of dehumidifiers, heaters and disinfectants to affected parishes via three logistics centers in Lower Silesia, a region in southwestern Poland.

Archbishop Wacław Depo of Częstochowa (center), Poland’s state chaplain, stands among Knights on the steps of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń in Licheń Stary, Poland. — Archbishop Wacław Depo of Częstochowa (center), Poland’s state chaplain, stands among Knights on the steps of the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń in Licheń Stary, Poland, on May 15 during the state convention. (Photo by Sebastian Nycz)

Local councils also collected goods for those affected, and Knights cleaned and repaired flooded homes.

“This experience showed how important it is to combine good organization with the personal commitment of each brother Knight,” Ziętek said.

Poland’s first state deputy, Krzysztof Orzechowski, likewise sees the Order’s strength in men discovering their mission through local councils.

“Today, I think the greatest value is that our brothers in their local councils have come to believe that their work can bear abundant good fruit,” Orzechowski said.

The future of the Order in Poland depends on each Knight’s willingness to act, said Bartoszko, who was among those helping flood victims as a district deputy. “However much the state deputy and grand knights do, we cannot accomplish much on our own,” he said. “The success of the Order is the sum of individual successes, the sum of individual works. That is what I would like to be talking about in five, 10 or 50 years.”

*****

JAROSŁAW HERMAN is a member of Blessed Michael Sopoćko Council 17667 in Kraków, Poland.

Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus march up Fifth Avenue in the 82nd annual Columbus Day parade in Manhattan.

An Invitation Still Open

CALLING MEN TO ACTION

ROOTED IN THE PARISH

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