About Us
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History of the Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney in New Haven, Connecticut, it was named in honor of the explorer Christopher Columbus. Originally serving as a mutual benefit society to working-class and immigrant Catholics in the United States, it developed into a fraternal benefit society dedicated to providing charitable services, including war and disaster relief, actively defending Catholicism in various nations and promoting Catholic education. The Knights also support the Catholic Church's positions on public policy issues, including various political causes, and are participants in the new evangelization. The current Supreme Knight is Carl A. Anderson.
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St. Therese of Lisieux, Council #11957St. Therese of Lisieux Parish was founded in 1991 with Father Tom Sutherland as the Pastor. The Knights of Columbus,Council 11957, was formed at St. Therese in April of 1997 with 35 new members. May saw the council add 26 new members and 20 were added in June along with 28 Knights transferring in from other councils. This made a total of 109 Knights on the rolls in June of 1997.
The first Grand Knight was George Sinacola and Fr. Sutherland was the first Council Chaplain. There are many events currently held by the Knights that are almost as old as the council itself. The first Pancake Breakfast was held in October of 1999 and the first Vocations Dinner, now called the Antonio G. Vittorini Memorial Pasta Dinner, was held in January of 2001. The annual Fish Fry has been held during every Lenten season since 2006. Unfortunately, it was cut short in 2020 due to Covid-19, but hopefully will resume in 2021.
In keeping with the founding principles of the Knights of Columbus, Council 11957 offers mutual aid and assistance to the sick, disabled and needy in the community. The proceeds from the annual events mentioned above and the Tootsie Roll Drive go to help those in need as well as several special-needs organizations who help those with intellectual and physical disabilities. The ‘Coats for Kids’ and ‘Coats for Homeless Veterans’ drives annually collect hundreds of coats for kids and homeless veterans who need them to stay warm in the winter months and the ‘Baby Bottle’ drive collects funding in support of ‘Right to Life’ initiatives. The knights of this council are always ready to help the parish community with whatever assistance is needed.
The current council Grand Knight is Paul Bieber and the current Chaplain/Pastor is Msgr. John Kasza. There are 222 council members, 39 of which are 4th Degree Knights in the Sacred Heart Assembly 2599 of which Paul Bieber serves as Secretary.
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Past Grand Knights
Name Years Served
George Sinacola 1997-2000
Antonio Vittorini 2000-2002
Joseph Abbatte 2002-2003
Sean Slattery 2003-2005
Roger Thompson 2005-2007
David Kuptz 2007-2009
Daniel Montpas 2009-2011
Tom Orbacki 2011-2012
Daniel Montpas 2012-2013
Paul Saurine 2013-2015
Deacon Don Sandstrom 2015-2017
John Lamanna 2017-2019
Rick Fisher 2019- 2022
Paul Bieber 2022-Present