Secret, lengthy and complex rituals for fledgling Knights of Columbus have become a thing of the past.

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis praised the Knights of Columbus for their charitable efforts and thanked them especially for helping Christians in the Middle East.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Five years after the Islamic State invaded northern Iraq and began systematically persecuting the country's Christians, the Knights of Columbus are continuing their work of supporting Iraqi parishes that are rebuilding, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said in his annual report Aug. 6 at the Knights' 137th Supreme Convention in Minneapolis.

A longstanding tradition is coming to an end this summer as the Knights of Columbus discard the ceremonial capes and plumed chapeaus of its Fourth Degree members.

Bruce Lamer has carved a career out of the sport he loves, and he says he owes much of it to the Knights of Columbus. 

The Knights of Columbus on Canada’s west coast have been waiting 30 years for this moment.

WATERBURY, Conn. – More than 1,000 people gathered in the rain on top of Holy Land USA as Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of Hartford celebrated Mass to honour Waterbury native Father Michael McGivney, a candidate for sainthood, founder of the Knights of Columbus, and two-time seminarian in Quebec. 

BALTIMORE – In an opening address Aug. 7 at the 136th annual Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention, the organizations' CEO, Carl Anderson, spoke of the charitable works of the Knights, their ongoing pro-life commitment and pledge to support persecuted Christians in Iraq and Syria.

London Ontario’s only candidate for sainthood, Henry Edward Dormer (1844-66) was a 21-year-old British Army ensign who only lived in London for a grand total of 220 days — the last seven months of his life — but left an indelible impression that still inspires his adopted townspeople a century and a half later. 

WASHINGTON – In 2014, the Islamic State removed hundreds of families of religious minorities from their homes in Karamdes, a mostly Christian town on the Ninevah Plain in Iraq. Just over two years later, the town, also known as Karemlash, was liberated.

-WASHINGTON – Maryknoll Father Gerard Hammond has been named the winner of the Gaudium et Spes Award from the Knights of Columbus for the 84-year-old priest's missionary work with tuberculosis patients in North Korea.

The Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy is over, but the call to mercy lives on.

Every December, a package from the Holy Land arrives on Hikmat Dandan’s doorstep. Inside are 65 hand-drawn Christmas cards in different shapes, sizes and colours.

NEW YORK – Protecting Christianity and religious pluralism in the Middle East and respecting the rights of all would open the path to peace in the region, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said at a dinner in New York Oct. 12.

TORONTO – Most Western humanitarian aid is failing to reach the thousands of Christians who have fled their homes as Daesh (or Islamic State) fighters have swept through Iraq and Syria, three Middle Eastern bishops charged at the 134th Knights of Columbus convention in Toronto.