Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus explained

Post:	Supreme Knight
Body:	the Knights of Columbus
Insigniasize:	120
Insigniacaption:	Knights of Columbus seal
Incumbent:	Patrick E. Kelly
Style:	Supreme Knight
Status:	Chief executive officer
Abbreviation:	SK
Member Of:	Knights of Columbus
Residence:	United States
Termlength:	At their discretion; mandatory retirement at age 70
First:	James T. Mullen

The Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus (more simply referred to as the Supreme Knight) is the title of the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Knights of Columbus. The organization comprises approximately 1.9 million members in more than 15,000 councils and operates an insurance company with over $109 billion of life insurance in force, .^{[1] [2]}

Since its founding in 1882, there have been 14 Supreme Knights. Patrick E. Kelly is the Supreme Knight incumbent, holding this position since March 1, 2021.

Supreme Knight					Deputy Supreme Knight		Supreme Chaplain
	Office holder	Portrait	Term began	Term ended	Office holder	Term	Office holder	Term
1	James T. Mullen		March 29, 1882	May 17, 1886	John T. Kerrigan	1882–1884	Rev. Patrick P. Lawlor	1882–1884
					John F. Dowling	1884–1886		1884–1890
2			May 17, 1886	March 2, 1897		1886–1887
					James C. Roach	1887–1895
							Rev. Hugh Treanor	1891–1899
					James E. Hayes	1895–1897
3	James E. Hayes		March 2, 1897	February 8, 1898	John J. Cone	1897–1898
4	John J. Cone		March 2, 1898	March 31, 1899	Vacant
5			April 1, 1899	August 31, 1909	John W. Hogan	April 1, 1899–June 3, 1903	Rev. Garrett J. Barry	1899–1901
							Rev. Patrick J. McGivney	1901–1928
					Patrick L. McArdle	June 3, 1903–1905
					James A. Flaherty	1905–1909
6	James A. Flaherty		September 1, 1909	August 31, 1927	Martin H. Carmody	1909–1927
7			September 1, 1927	August 31, 1939	John F. Martin	1927–1933
							Rev. John J. McGivney	1928–1939
					Francis P. Matthews	1933–1939
8	Francis P. Matthews		September 2, 1939	October 14, 1945	John E. Swift	1939–1945	Rev. Leo M. Finn	1939–1960
9	John E. Swift		October 24, 1945	August 31, 1953	Timothy P. Galvin	1945–1949
					William J. Mulligan	1949–1960
10	Luke E. Hart		September 1, 1953	February 19, 1964
					John W. McDevitt	1960–1964	Bishop Charles P. Greco	1961–January 20, 1987
11	John W. McDevitt		February 22, 1964	January 21, 1977	John H. Griffin, MD	1964–1966
					Charles J. Ducey	1966–April 1976
					Ernest J. Wolff	1976–1977
12	Virgil C. Dechant		January 21, 1977	September 30, 2000	Frederick H. Pelletier	1977–1981
					John M. Murphy	1981–1984
					Ellis D. Flinn	1984–February 1, 1997
							Bishop Thomas V. Daily	February 13, 1987–April 1, 2005
					Robert F. Wade	April 1, 1997–September 30, 2000
13	Carl A. Anderson		October 1, 2000	February 28, 2021	Jean B. Migneault	October 1, 2000–October 27, 2006
							Archbishop William E. Lori	April 2, 2005–present
					Dennis A. Savoie	October 27, 2006–December 2013
					Logan T. Ludwig	December 12, 2013–December 16, 2016
					Patrick E. Kelly	January 1, 2017–February 28, 2021
14	Patrick E. Kelly		March 1, 2021	present	Paul O'Sullivan^[3]	June 9, 2021–July 1, 2023
					Arthur L. Peters	July 1, 2023-present

Bibliography

• Book: Dodge , William Wallace . 1903. The Fraternal and Modern Banquet Orator: An Original Book of Useful Helps at the Social Session and Assembly of Fraternal Orders, College Entertainments, Social Gatherings and All Banquet Occasions. Chicago. Monarch Book Company.
• Book: Kauffman , Christopher J. . 1982. Faith and Fraternalism: The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882–1982. Harper and Row. 978-0-06-014940-6. registration.

Notes and References

1. https://www.kofc.org/en/news/releases/supreme-knight-delivers-annual-report.html Annual report 2020
2. https://www.kofc.org/en/todays-knights/about-us.html KofC About Us
3. News: Supreme Knight installed, calls for "guardians of truth" . John . Burger . June 14, 2021 . August 5, 2022 . Aletia .