• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
More than 1,700 attended the States Dinner at the Civic Center in 1965, when the Knights of Columbus held their 83rd annual Supreme Convention in Baltimore. (CR File)

Baltimore and the Knights of Columbus

July 25, 2018
By Paul McMullen
Filed Under: Commentary, Feature, Knights of Columbus, Local News, Our Back Pages

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

The Knights of Columbus will acknowledge an important part of their roots Aug. 7-9, when the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization holds its 136th annual Supreme Convention in Baltimore.

The Knights were founded in 1882 in Hartford, Conn., by Father Michael J. McGivney. Five years earlier, on Dec. 22, 1877, he was among the first men ordained to the priesthood by then-Archbishop James Gibbons of Baltimore at what is now the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Father McGivney had studied at St. Mary’s Seminary, then located a 10-minute walk west of the basilica, and was one of three men from the Diocese of Hartford ordained by Archbishop Gibbons. It was 25 years before the first Ford Model T rolled off an assembly line, and The Catholic Mirror of Dec. 29, 1877, noted that “Only a few of the parents were enabled to gaze on this scene, for most of the students have their homes far away, and their parents were, in consequence, deprived of the happy spectacle.”

Twenty years later, Baltimore Council No. 205 was instituted Feb. 21, 1897, as the first in Maryland. It remains in existence, as the Shehan Council, headquartered on Harford Road in Hamilton.

This will be the third Supreme Convention to be held in Baltimore.

In August 1965, The Catholic Review reported that more than “2,000 delegates from 50 states, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Panama, and the Phillipines” attended the 83rd annual Supreme Convention, the first in Baltimore.

More than 1,700 attended the States Dinner at the Baltimore Civic Center, where the head table included Mayor Theodore McKeldin, eight bishops and Cardinal Lawrence Shehan, who said that the Knights “must be in the forefront of activities beneficial to the church and the nation.”

He “challenged” them to be involved in activities such as “getting personally involved in fighting poverty … joining with other community groups to relieve racial tension,” and lauded them “in your attempt to dry up the sources of pornography.”

The Supreme Convention returned in 1989, when the Archdiocese of Baltimore was marking its bicentennial. Approximately 2,500 Knights gathered at the Baltimore Convention Center, where they heard from then-Archbishop William Keeler and Vice President Dan Quayle.

“The Knights,” the Review reported, “ended the convention with a seven-part pro-life resolution which commits the members to fighting for a human life amendment to the U.S. Constitution. … ”

Since 2005, Archbishop William E. Lori has served as the Knights’ Supreme Chaplain. They number more than 27,000 in the state of Maryland alone.

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Paul McMullen

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • 3 North Americans named to Vatican dicasteries for ecumenism, interreligious dialogue

  • Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

  • St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

  • St. Clement Mary Hofbauer adapts to times, cultures as it celebrates 100th anniversary

  • Augustinian prior opens up about papal vacation, first encyclical, appointments and tennis

| Latest Local News |

Archbishop Lori announces clergy appointments, including pastor and associate pastors

DUAL ENROLLMENT

Double the learning: Dual enrollment provides college credit to high school students

St. Mary’s purchases former Annapolis Area Christian School

Radio Interview: Exploring the Nicene Creed – Part Two

St. Clement Mary Hofbauer adapts to times, cultures as it celebrates 100th anniversary

| Latest World News |

Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit

Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war

care of creation

Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass

sorry baby

Movie Review: Sorry, Baby

ICE

ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Movie Review: Superman
  • Judge blocks Trump birthright citizenship order as part of class action lawsuit
  • Ukraine religious leaders issue ‘desperate cry’ to world to end Russia’s war
  • Pope Leo wears Chicago-made vestments to July 9 ‘care of creation’ Mass
  • Movie Review: Sorry, Baby
  • ICE deports Iowa parishioner to Guatemala homeland as supporters pray for his release
  • Come away and rest awhile
  • French woman hopes sharing mystical encounter with Minnesota Benedictine helps sainthood cause
  • Pope: Vatican still ready to host peace talks between Russia, Ukraine

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en