Pope Leo appoints Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly to Vatican dicastery

written by Courtney Mares 3:05 PM August 25, 2026

Pope Leo XIV meets with Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly of the Knights of Columbus Oct. 6, 2025, during an audience with a Knights delegation at the Vatican. On Aug. 25, 2026, Pope Leo appointed Kelly as a member of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


(OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV on Aug. 25 appointed the Knights of Columbus’ Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly as a member of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.

Kelly has served as the supreme Knight and CEO of the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization since 2021. The Knights of Columbus have 2.1 million members throughout the world.

“I am deeply grateful to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV for appointing me as a member of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life,” Kelly said following the Vatican’s announcement.

“Since our founding by Blessed Michael McGivney in 1882, the Knights of Columbus has been dedicated to strengthening Catholic laymen in the faith, to supporting Catholic family life and to building up a culture of life,” he added. “I look forward to supporting this vital work of the Catholic Church.”

As a member of the Vatican dicastery, Kelly will contribute to the dicastery’s mission of enhancing the apostolate of the lay faithful, the pastoral care of young people and the mission of the family according to God’s plan. The dicastery is also dedicated to the promotion and protection of life and the dignity of the elderly.

 
About 2 dozen serve as members of dicastery

About two dozen people, including cardinals, married lay couples and scholars from around the world, currently serve as members of the laity dicastery. Kelly will join fellow American members Helen Alvaré, lecturer at the George Mason University School of Law, and Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington. The role does not require members to move to Rome.

Pope Francis established the dicastery in 2016, combining the responsibilities of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, the former bishop of Dallas, has served as the prefect of the dicastery since its founding.

The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life plays a key role in organizing World Youth Day, the next which is scheduled to take place in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 3-8, 2027. The dicastery also organizes the World Meeting of Families and the annual World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.

Pope Leo thanks Knights of Columbus for generosity to Vatican, service to communities

Monday, October 06, 2025

Pope Leo XIV shakes hands with Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly during an audience with Knights of Columbus leadership at the Vatican on Oct. 6, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media

By Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Oct 6, 2025 / 12:24 pm

Pope Leo XIV on Monday met with leaders of the Knights of Columbus, whom he thanked for their generosity to the Vatican and their dedicated service to local communities in the United States.

He also expressed his “profound gratitude” for the Knights’ funding of the restorations of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s baldacchino and monument of the Chair of St. Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica, completed last year.

Such contributions are “a visible sign of your continued devotion to the vicar of Christ,” the pontiff said, addressing members of the board of directors and their families in the Apostolic Palace’s Hall of the Consistory.

“Throughout its history, the order has supported the charitable work of the Roman pontiff in a variety of ways, including through the ‘Vicarius Christi’ Fund, which allows him to express solidarity with the poor and most vulnerable throughout the world,” Leo continued.

The pope noted that local Knights councils “seek to bring the compassion and love of the Lord into your local communities, including through your efforts to uphold the sanctity of human life in all of its stages, to assist victims of war and natural disasters, and also to support priestly vocations.”

The Knights of Columbus is a lay Catholic men’s organization with more than 2.1 million members worldwide. It was founded by Blessed Michael McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882.

The pope also sent a video greeting to the Knights of Columbus during their 143rd Supreme Convention in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 5. On July 4, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore met Pope Leo for the first time in a private audience at the Vatican.

Source

Broadcasting from the Heart of the Church

Broadcasting from the Heart of the Church

The Order donates a new mobile broadcasting unit to the Vatican on eve of the Jubilee 2025

2/10/2025

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, is accompanied by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly as he blesses a new mobile broadcasting unit outside St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Dec. 21. (Photo by Vatican Media)


The Knights of Columbus recently donated a state-of-the-art mobile broadcasting unit to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, unveiling the vehicle in Rome just days before Pope Francis inaugurated the Jubilee Year 2025.

The new broadcasting van was blessed by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro during a Dec. 21 ceremony attended by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, staff of the Dicastery for Communication, including Paolo Ruffini, prefect, and others.

In an interview with Vatican News that day, the supreme knight said the new mobile broadcasting unit will not only help bring the voice of Pope Francis to a wider audience but will “deliver the message of Jesus Christ from the Vatican to Catholics and all people of goodwill around the world.”