Welcome to the New Jersey State Council of the Knights of Columbus.  Father Michael J. McGivney and a handful of Catholic laymen founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882, in the basement of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Haven, Connecticut.

The aim of the founder was to set up a parish-based lay organization that offered insurance benefits to the widows and children of members. In an era when parish and fraternal societies were popular, Father McGivney felt there should be some way to strengthen the religious faith of his flock and provide financial support for families overwhelmed by illness or the death of the breadwinner. 

Today the Knights of Columbus have grown from that one local unit, or council, to over 12,000 councils in the United States (including Puerto Rico and Guam), Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, the Bahamas, the Virgin Islands, Guatemala, and Saipan. 

Membership is over 1.7 million dues-paying members plus their families - approximately 5.6 million people total - many of whom are actively involved in volunteer service programs for the Catholic Church, their communities, their families, young people and one another.

The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest organization of Catholic men and their families, has been called "the strong right arm of the Church," and has been cited by popes, presidents and other world leaders for support of the Church, for programs of evangelization and Catholic education, for civic involvement and aid to those in need.