Review of the 144th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus held August 4th thru 6th

 

By living for ‘God’s purposes,’ Knights care for his people, archbishop tells convention

written by André Escaleira, Jr. 

Denver Archbishop James R. Golka concelebrates Mass Aug. 4, 2026, at the 144th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Denver. (OSV News photo/André Escaleira Jr., Denver Catholic)

DENVER (OSV News) — In a moving display of the Catholic Church’s unity, thousands of Knights of Columbus from around the world gathered in Denver for their 144th Supreme Convention Aug. 4-6.

With some members and their families traveling from as far as the Philippines, South Korea, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Spain to attend, the convention sought to focus on Pope Leo XIV’s unifying episcopal motto: “In the One, we are one.”

Coming together in the order’s principles of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism, the gathering represented the Knights’ commitment to spreading the Gospel and building up Christ’s Church, even to the ends of the earth.

The convention opened Aug. 4 with a special Mass celebrated by Denver Archbishop James R. Golka, along with dozens of bishops and hundreds of priests concelebrating and deacons assisting.

Archbishop Golka a fourth-degree Knight

For the archbishop, the liturgy was personal: He is a fourth-degree Knight; his six brothers are Knights; and his late father, Robert, was a Knight, too. In fact, in 2021, the year Archbishop Golka was named bishop of Colorado Springs, his family was named Family of the Year by the Knights of Columbus Nebraska State Council.

“The Knights of Columbus exists to help our men grow in their faith, and they sure did for my dad,” Archbishop Golka said in his homily.

Recounting his own journey of faith and vocation, the archbishop highlighted God’s providence in each of our lives and in the Knights of Columbus’s work.

Facing a $252 car repair while in seminary, a young Jim Golka didn’t know where to turn except to God. After a quick, simple prayer, he checked his seminary mailbox to find a letter from the Knights of Columbus in Ogallala, Nebraska — a council he’d never visited. They had hosted a pancake breakfast and decided to split the proceeds between him and another seminarian. Archbishop Golka’s share? $253.

‘Listen to God’s will for you’

“If you listen to God’s will for you and say yes, God will absolutely take care of you, amen? And he’ll even give you an extra dollar for a cup of coffee,” he said with a chuckle. “And God wants the Knights of Columbus to help him care for his children. God wants the Knights of Columbus to help carry out God’s purposes. God wants the Knights of Columbus to live for God and God’s purposes, not ours. And when we do that, we care for the people of God.”

Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the papal nuncio to the United States, opened an afternoon session with words of reflection on the Knights of Columbus’ mission in this apostolic age.

He also introduced a special video message from Pope Leo, who urged the Knights to be living witnesses of unity and charity in a world often marked by division. Reflecting on the convention theme, he said Christian unity must be actively nurtured through humble dialogue and bridge-building in families, parishes and communities.

Pope Leo also praised the order’s longstanding charitable work, highlighting its support for unborn children, expectant mothers, persecuted Christians, trafficking victims and others in need. The pope thanked the Knights for their service and imparted his apostolic blessing to members and their families.

Supreme Knight’s annual report

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly of the Knights of Columbus then took to the dais to deliver his annual report, a comprehensive summary of the worldwide activity of the Knights of Columbus over the past year.

Amid a lengthy litany of the Knights’ good works was a profound commitment to charity, service and love of neighbor — with over 48 million hours of volunteer service and more than $200 million given to charity worldwide, a new record for the organization. That charity was made possible, in part, due to a near record-high number of new Knights, with 105,000 men being welcomed into the order worldwide — many of them men under 35.

The number of new Knights, Kelly said, is rivaled only by the post-World War II boom of new membership.

“Just as Christ came to serve, we devote our lives to serving others, especially the vulnerable,” Kelly said. “All of our charity reflects the love of God. It’s a charity that evangelizes.”

Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly delivers his annual report Aug. 4, 2026, at the 144th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Denver. (OSV News photo/André Escaleira Jr., Denver Catholic)

Knights’ charity takes many forms

That charity took many forms: wheelchairs and warm coats to those in need; emergency response to the horrific shooting during a school Mass at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis and the natural disasters in Venezuela and Hawaii; support for persecuted and war-torn communities in the Holy Land, Ukraine, Benin and Nigeria; religious liberty advocacy; aid for wounded warriors; and partnerships with the Special Olympics and pro-life clinics.

“We are not just another charitable organization. We are not a social club,” Kelly emphasized. “We are a global brotherhood of Catholic leaders — and we are united in Jesus Christ. He is the source of our strength. And as we reflect on the past year, we give all the glory to God.”

That charity, both Archbishop Golka and Kelly emphasized, flows from communion with God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Apart from him, all charitable works come to nothing.

“We could be busy about many, many good activities, but if they have not been planted by God, they’re going to fail,” the archbishop said in his homily. “We can have good intentions, but if it’s not God’s plan, it’s going to fail, so what must we do before we do anything? Listen to God, beg God for clarity on what is his plan.”

Calling all to become experts in listening to God

Emphasizing that God already has a plan for the Knights of Columbus, for individuals, families and marriages, Archbishop Golka exhorted those gathered to become experts in listening to God.

“My brothers and sisters, whenever I look at Jesus to find out his plan, he is never anxious. He is never afraid. He’s excited to show us who he is,” the archbishop said. “So let us open our ears and our hearts and our eyes so we can know better his plan for you, for our life, for the Knights of Columbus, for the entire world, so that God can get his world back through our humble service.”

To bolster Knights’ faith and help them better hear the voice of God, the Knights of Columbus launched Cor, a small-group program meant “to give young men exactly what they are looking for — a community centered in Jesus Christ.”

In addition, Kelly announced a new video retreat in partnership with ACTS XXIX and a new video series in partnership with Denver-based Christ in the City, with reflection and practical tips to serve the homeless.

‘Rising to meet the moment’

In these ways, Kelly said, the Knights of Columbus “are rising to meet this moment,” in which interest in the Catholic Church has grown sharply, with some parishes and dioceses seeing record-high numbers of converts.

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, speaks Aug. 4, 2026, at the 144th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Denver. (OSV News photo/André Escaleira Jr., Denver Catholic)

“These converts are searching for compelling answers. They are fleeing the isolation and incoherence that define our time,” Kelly explained. “They need real friendship and real connection — and they are finding it in the Catholic Church.”

Kelly concluded his report by lifting up Kendrick Castillo as a perfect exemplar of this youthful zeal for faith and service. Castillo, 18, jumped in front of a gunman at the Highlands Ranch STEM School in suburban Denver, giving his life to save the lives of his classmates when he was fatally shot May 7, 2019.

Known for his service to the community through the Knights of Columbus, Castillo had always desired to join the order but had only just become old enough at the time of his death. So, in 2019, the Knights of Columbus posthumously welcomed him.  The Diocese of Colorado Springs continues to review his life for a potential cause of canonization.

“We will always look up to your son, our brother Knight, Kendrick Castillo!” Kelly promised, turning to John and Maria Castillo, Kendrick’s parents, who were present in the audience.

Bishops Consecrate America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; Archbishop Lori delivers homily

 

Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori delivers the homily as the U.S. Catholic bishops consecrate the country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the Basilica of Mary Queen of the Universe in Orlando, Fla., June 11, 2026, during their spring plenary assembly. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Archbishop Lori: Sacred Heart reconciles divisions and transforms hardened hearts

June 11, 2026
By Jean Gonzalez
OSV News

ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) — A sea of white robes and zucchettos of pink and magenta in the pews. A statue of Jesus welcoming the faithful with his exposed Sacred Heart upon the foot of the altar.

A setting fit for a June 11 Mass that united U.S. bishops gathered for their spring plenary June 10-12. After concluding the second of two days of public sessions, they left the Omni Resort in ChampionsGate for a half-hour drive up Interstate 4 for the spiritual refuge that is the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe in Orlando.

And the Mass was a momentous one as it served to formally consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City incensed the altar after processing in from the thick humidity and cloudy skies of a typical Orlando afternoon outside the shrine. The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was joined on the altar by bishops and deacons of the Orlando Diocese.

“Clothe us, Lord God, with the virtues of the heart of your son, and set us aflame with his love,” the archbishop prayed in opening the Mass.

More than 200 bishops present, along with about 150 observers, mostly benefactors and staff of the Diocese of Orlando. The monstrance used ahead of Mass for Eucharistic adoration was from the Servants of the Pierced Hearts, a Miami-based religious institute.

The relics of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque — the French Visitation sister who experienced visions of Jesus revealing his Sacred Heart — were also present at the Mass, on loan for the consecration from the Knights of Columbus.

In his homily, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore described the Sacred Heart of Jesus not as an “abstract devotion,” but as a “visible sign of love.”

He explained why the Church consecrates. He described it as an act of faith and acknowledgment of the need for God’s mercy, wisdom and guidance. It is also an act of hope. It is “a heart that has known joy and sorrow, friendship and betrayal, suffering and sacrifice,” he said.

The act of consecration is an act of faith and hope, the archbishop said, but it is also an acknowledgment of God’s faithful work and love in the world and how we as people and as a Church have not always “clearly reflected that love.”

“Indeed, it is sometimes obscured almost beyond recognition,” the archbishop added. “To be sure, there have been moments of extraordinary witness and holiness. But there have also been moments of failure, division and sin. Consecration requires the humility to acknowledge both.”

And why the Sacred Heart? Because it reveals a savior who “desires not merely our obedience, but our friendship; not simply our service, but our communion with Him,” he said.

“To consecrate ourselves to the Sacred Heart is ultimately to accept Christ’s invitation to remain in His love and to allow that love to shape every aspect of our lives, public and private,” Archbishop Lori said. “It is a declaration that the future does not belong merely to political movements, economic forces, or human plans. The future belongs to God.”

The act of consecration does not just happen among the shepherds, but also the sheep. In speaking to the laity both in the pews at the shrine and watching on the livestream, Archbishop Lori said the act of consecration is one the faithful and leaders do together.

“This consecration is not something the bishops do for you. It is something we do together,” he said. “The renewal of the Church and our nation will not come through declarations alone. It will come through disciples who remain in Christ’s love and bear the good fruit of holiness in families, parishes, communities and in their daily lives.”

The Sacred Heart reconciles divisions and transforms hardened hearts, the archbishop said.

“It means building communities — ecclesial and civil — where truth is proclaimed clearly and charity is practiced generously. It means resisting the temptation to define ourselves by division, ideology or resentment,” Archbishop Lori said. “We consecrate our nation, not because it is perfect, but because it is beloved by God. We entrust to the Heart of Christ our achievements and failures, our hopes and anxiety, our present challenges and our future aspirations.”

Click here to read Archbishop Lori’s Homily: Consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pastoral Letter from Archbishop William Lori calling for U.S. political discourse and political activity to improve

 

Abp Lori issues pastoral letter on renewal of U.S. political culture

By Crux Staff

Feb 10, 2026

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, MD. Image courtesy of Archdiocese of Baltimore

Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore has issued a new pastoral letter outlining a vision for renewal in U.S. public discourse.

Released Monday, February 9, the 32-page letter titled “In Charity and Truth: Toward a Renewed Political Culture” is keyed to the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, and comes as U.S. president Donald Trump is facing sustained criticism over his sharing of a racist video depicting former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes.

On the same day Lori published his pastoral letter, two senior U.S. prelates – Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit – issued public statements calling on the president to apologize for his actions.

The letter calls the occasion “a moment of grace and responsibility.”

“Authentic remembrance always orients us toward renewal,” Lori writes, “it calls us to consider not only who we have been, and who we are becoming – but, by God’s grace, who we are called to be.”

Lori has been thinking about the role of faith in U.S. public life for decades and has been a leader in the U.S. bishops’ work to defend religious liberty in the United States. In 2011, Lori became the inaugural chairman of the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

A stark picture of the present

Drawing on the writings of Popes Leo XIV, Francis, and Benedict XVI, the pastoral letter is the fifth Lori has issued in his 14 years of service as the head of the Baltimore archdiocese – the “premier see” in the United States, founded in 1789 – and offers an unsparing view of the state of U.S. political discourse.

“Like the Church herself,” Lori writes, “we operate in a cultural atmosphere that is something like the air we breathe.”

“Rarely is it entirely fresh and bracing,” Lori writes. “All too often it is polluted, even toxic.”

“Such is the political atmosphere in which we find ourselves today,” the archbishop writes.

“Political discourse has become more vitriolic than usual. Political violence and threats of such violence have erupted. There is deep polarization,” Lori writes.

“Extreme ideologies of both the left and the right are being asserted – ideologies that reveal not only political division, but also cultural and even religious polarization.”

Eclipse of human nature

Lori’s letter frames his view of general cultural malaise as a reflection of a deeper anthropological crisis.

“At its root,” Lori writes, “this crisis reflects a wounded understanding of the human person.”

“When we forget that every human being is created in the image of God,” Lori writes, “we begin to see one another not as brothers and sisters, but as obstacles and threats.”

“Political life then becomes a contest of power,” he continues, “rather than a shared pursuit of the common good.”

Lori says synodality – a term that “emerges from ecclesial life” but “offers wisdom for our civic life as well” – may be helpful.

“Synodality is, at its heart, a commitment to listening with humility, speaking with honesty, and discerning with the Holy Spirit–all while walking together, not apart,” Lori writes.

Though it must be “applied carefully, recognizing that the Church’s dynamics, authority, and mission differ fundamentally from those of a secular republic,” Lori writes, synodality “reminds us that no political goal is worth the cost of a fractured people, and no disagreement justifies forgetting our shared humanity.”

Virtue as the foundation of civic friendship

A central section of the letter discusses the four “cardinal” virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, which constitute the moral framework necessary to true human flourishing.

“These virtues do not belong only to one party or ideology,” Lori writes. “They are the shared moral grammar,” he writes, “that enables people of goodwill to work together for the common good.”

“Virtue,” Lori writes, “makes possible civic friendship,” which “is not sentimental,” but “is a strong, stable commitment to the truth that we belong to one another, that our destinies are intertwined, and that the flourishing of one depends in part on the flourishing of all.”

Civic friendship is “a way of living and relating that seeks the good of one’s neighbor and of society,” he writes.

“It is a deep, genuine desire to seek the good of others and of society,” and “the antidote to polarization,” which challenges all citizens – Catholics especially though not exclusively – to do four things: “[To] see political opponents as brothers and sisters, [to] build bridges where there are walls, [to] foster trust in a time of suspicion, and [to] cultivate hope amid fear.”

Models of civic friendship

The archbishop also writes of being Catholic in the U.S. as being a matter of letting the gospel inform our citizenship.

“Being Catholic in America has never meant uncritical allegiance,” Lori writes, “nor has it

required withdrawal,” but has always meant and continues to mean “allowing the Gospel to form our conscience, guide our choices, and inspire our commitment to the common good.”

“When we do that,” he writes, “we contribute not only to the unity of the Church but also to the healing and strengthening of our nation, helping it grow into the best version of itself, even when the journey is difficult.”

Lori indicated two great Catholics who lived in the U.S. between the 19th and 20th centuries as figures who embody the ideal of Catholic citizenship: Blessed Michael McGivney and St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

Bl. McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus, of which Lori is supreme chaplain. St. Frances Cabrini – an immigrant to the U.S. herself – founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to provide education, health care, and other services to the poor, especially the immigrant poor in the U.S.

Lori also offers the example of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher, the great English martyrs, as models of Catholic citizenship.

More’s “faith-filled patriotism is one we would do well to imitate,” Lori writes, “a patriotism that loves one’s nation enough to speak the truth and to help it become its best self.”

Fisher is especially a model of fortitude – courage – which “is firm, patient and rooted in truth.”

“Fortitude in political life does not manifest as aggression or dominance,” Lori writes, “but in a quiet, unwavering commitment to the Gospel and the common good.”

“Fortitude helps us to do the right thing even when it is hard,” he writes.

Answering the call

Lori’s letter acknowledges frankly the tumult and division that characterize the present of U.S. political life, calling Catholics in his care to practice the virtues that in every age are crucial to achieving ordered liberty and genuine human flourishing.

“In the midst of political upheaval,” Lori writes, “the Church does not withdraw from public life, nor does she align herself with any partisan identity, but “remains what she has always been: a sacrament of unity, a beacon of hope and a teacher of truth.”

“Her mission is not to win elections,” he writes, “but to form saints.”

“Our nation needs Catholics who embody this mission,” Lori writes, “women and men whose lives witness to the dignity of every human person, whose love bridges divides, whose courage resists hatred and whose faith insists that despair does not have the final word.”

“The civic landscape may look dark at times,” he writes, “but the Church has lived through darker times and emerged stronger, purified and more faithful.

“So too,” he concludes, “can our nation.”