Supreme Chaplain’s Final Remarks
144th Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention
Denver, Colorado
August 6, 2026
Introduction
Thank you, Worthy Supreme Knight, for your kind introduction and thank you brother knights for your friendship and support, and most of all for living principles of the Order in the spirit of Blessed Michael McGivney.
At this Convention, we have focused on our principle of unity. We have been inspired to do so by the example & motto of Pope Leo XIV, “In the One, we are one” – or for you devotees of the Latin language, “In illo uno, illum.” Kind of has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? Just to remind ourselves, it means “In the One, we are one.” In Christ, the One Savior, we are one.
Well, for some time I’ve been sitting with the Pope’s motto, reflecting on how it applies to the Church but also on how it applies to our broader civic life, to all the countries represented here at our Convention, but especially to the United States as it marks its 250th anniversary. How does his motto apply to a country that pledges to be, “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”?
More Than Gratitude
This special anniversary is a moment for patriotism, the heart of which, as we have heard, is gratitude. It is a gratitude I am privileged to share with all of you. The Knights of Columbus have played and continue to play a tremendous role in shaping and defending a nation that, beginning in 1776, committed itself to constitutional government, ordered liberty, and the dignity of the human person. We have upheld the faith, strengthened families, defended the unborn, opened the doors of Catholic schools to needy children, promoted priestly vocations, & cared for the widow, the orphan, & the outcast. We have welcomed immigrants into our ranks, responded courageously and generously when disaster struck, and we have been on battlefronts defending our freedoms, and many in our number have paid the ultimate price. Truly, we have joined the ranks of those who pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” in service to a daring proposition: that all men and women are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Dear brother knights, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God!”
But if we truly would be grateful for such blessings, let us not merely celebrate the past but let us also honestly examine where we are now, and where we are headed. We know that ours is a moment marked by deep fractures. Political discourse has become increasingly hostile. Families are divided by ideology. Communities struggle to trust one another. Public institutions command less confidence than any time in recent memory. Loneliness has become an epidemic. We have more means of communication in than any time in history, yet many would say that we have forgotten how to have a conversation.
That is why the Church has always insisted that the renewal of society begins, not with structures, but with saints. Before there can be a renewal of institutions, there must be a renewal of persons. Before there can be civic friendship, there must be conversion of heart. Before there can be lasting peace, there must be reconciliation with God. This insight has animated Catholic social teaching from Pope Leo XIII to Pope Leo XIV. The Church never separates social renewal from spiritual renewal, because she knows that every social crisis is, at its deepest level, a crisis of the human person.
That conviction is at the heart of my recent pastoral letter, In Charity & Truth: Towards a Renewed Political Culture. I wrote it, not to offer political advice, but something more demanding. It is an invitation for all of us to recover the virtues necessary for a healthy democracy, and it reminds us, that political renewal is ultimately the fruit of moral and spiritual renewal. Such renewal ‘hinges’ on four virtues, four cardinal virtues, four habitual ways of thinking, deciding, acting, and living, habits I will describe in very practical terms: Prudence: Not just healthy choices but holy choices. For example, Before you post, pause. Ask yourself, ‘Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it charitable? Because not every thought needs to become a public statement! Justice: Not just what benefits me or helps my side win, but rather, what is actually fair? What serves the common good and the dignity of others. Fortitude: Let’s be honest, this is harder than it sounds. It takes real courage to stay calm in a heated conversation. To refuse sarcasm. To walk away instead of escalating. Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is not hit send. Temperance: self-control, especially when it comes to reactions. And yes, coffee or a stronger beverage helps (in moderation of course!), but God’s grace helps more, much more.
If all of this sounds idealistic, the Church would gently remind us that we’ve seen it all lived before. Think of Bl. Michael McGivney, serving widows, orphans, immigrants, and outcasts when only few others would. Bl. Michael changed the world, not by winning arguments, but by loving people, truthfully, consistently and sacrificially, without reducing anyone to an enemy.
“In the One, We Are One”
All of which brings us back to our convention theme: “In the One, We Are One”. We can easily see how this theme – which comes from the writings of St. Augustine and is the motto of our Holy Father, Pope Leo – we can see how it relates directly to the principle of unity Bl. Michael has given us. The unity of which Pope Leo speaks and the unity which is a bedrock principle of our Order, is not clannish. Rather, it a unity forged by our participation in the overflowing and all-embracing charity of Christ, the One who died for us ‘while we were yet sinners.’
Made one in Christ, sharing in the graces he won for us, we, as Knights of Columbus are men of the Eucharist, “the sign of unity and the bond of charity.” We, as Knights of Columbus strive to be men of virtue, a virtue that originates in God’s grace but also demands our active engagement. We live the principle of unity, not merely because we are like-minded, but because in the One, we are one – we are made one in Christ. Our unity is founded on the sacrament of unity and it is strengthened by a pattern of virtuous living.
Why Is This Important?
I think we can readily see the importance of the principle of unity for the ongoing renewal of the Church and for healing our fractured society. It goes back to what I said at the beginning: the renewal of society begins, not with structures, but with saints. We can renew society by answering the call to holiness, and at the heart of our holiness is the One in whom we are one.
The principle of unity must find a home in each of our souls. It must be welcomed into our families, our parishes, and our network of relationships. It must shine forth in our councils, in our state jurisdictions, and across the whole of the Order, in every land and nation. We are 2.2 million strong. As each of us and all of together grow day by day in the truth of God’s Word, in the depth of God’s love for us in the Eucharist, and in the virtues that flow from Word and Sacrament, we, the Knights of Columbus, are a force for a unity of goodness and truth that can contribute mightily to the unity of the Church, and go a long way towards healing our fractured society and renewing our political culture.
Let me conclude by thanking our Worthy Supreme Knight for his leadership of our Order and by thanking all of you for extending the holiness and vision of Bl. Michael to the nations and jurisdictions that you represent. As we prepare to return home, may we, in the grace of the Holy Spirit, bear consistent and loving witness to the One in whom we are one! Vivat Jesus!