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Home / Awards / Chapmion of Peace Award / 2001 THE CHAMPION OF PEACE AWARD RECIPIENTS 2001 - Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest family fraternal service organization, with more than 1.6 million members and their families throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, the Caribbean and Pacific rim. From its beginnings in 1882 as a fraternal benefit society for Catholic men, the Knights of Columbus has evolved into a service organization whose numerous programs and activities benefit its members and their families, the Catholic Church and the community at large. In 2000, Knights throughout the organization reported raising and donating to charity some $116 million and volunteering more than 56 million hours of service to the Catholic Church and community. The Knights of Columbus is also a top-rated life insurance company with more than $42 billion of insurance in force on its members and their families. Father Michael J. McGivney, an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882. He brought together the first group of lay men with whom he shared his dream of a fraternal benefit society to not only assist widows and orphans of deceased members through its life insurance, but also to help instill in members a heightened sense of pride in their Catholicism, which was so frequently challenged and derided in 19th century America. The Archdiocese of Hartford, Conn., in December 1997 formally opened the cause for sainthood for Father McGivney. Today, there are more than 12,000 local units of the Knights of Columbus. The founders chose the name “Knights of Columbus” in order to call attention to the contributions that Catholics made to the exploration and evangelization of the Americas, beginning with the Catholic mariner, Christopher Columbus. “Knights” signify the members’ commitment to high ideals of spirituality and service. In recognition of the organization’s outstanding commitment to serving those most in need, and for its steadfast dedication and efforts to uplifting the downtrodden and assisting the vulnerable, through which its members proclaim the dignity and worth of the human person, the sacredness of human life and the timeless meaning of family values, thereby contributing significantly to a culture of peace, the Path to Peace Foundation is pleased to bestow upon the Knights of Columbus the 2001 Champion of Peace Award. May I ask the Honorable Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, to please come forward to accept the Award.
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