About Council 6451

All the good works we do are informed by our four core principles: Charity, Unity, Fraternity, Patriotism

St. Aloysius Council 6451 was incorporated as the Catawba Valley Knights of Columbus Council on March 25, 1973 with Grand Knight – Walter Booth. Since that time, the council has grown to over 225 members, and been recognized with the prestigious Star Council Award numerous times. The councils in the following cities have spun off from the original Catawba Valley council: Morganton, Newton, Lenoir, Denver and Statesville.

The council business meeting and social takes place at 7:00 p.m. on the second Monday of each month in the St. Aloysius Activity Center. Officers and Program Chairmen meet two or three weeks ahead of the business meeting for planning purposes.

Our council is blessed with many members who give of their time and talents to support council service program initiatives. See a list of these in the Program section. In addition, through fund raising activities, the council is able to make monetary donations to many worthwhile charities.

Our History

Late-19th century Connecticut was marked by the growing prevalence of fraternal benefit societies, hostility toward Catholic immigrants and dangerous working conditions in factories that left many families fatherless. Recognizing a vital, practical need in his community, Father Michael J. McGivney, the 29-year-old assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn., gathered a group of men at his parish on Oct. 2, 1881. He proposed establishing a lay organization, the goal of which would be to prevent Catholic men from entering secret societies whose membership was antithetical to Church teaching, to unite men of Catholic faith and to provide for the families of deceased members.

As a symbol that allegiance to their country did not conflict with allegiance to their faith, the organization’s members took as their patron Christopher Columbus — recognized as a Catholic and celebrated as the discoverer of America. Thanks to Father McGivney’s persistence, the Knights of Columbus elected officers in February 1882 and officially assumed corporate status on March 29.

In addition to the Order’s stated benefits, Catholic men were drawn to the Knights because of its emphasis on serving one’s Church, community and family with virtue. Writing in The Columbiad in 1898, a year before he was elected supreme knight, Edward L. Hearn wrote that a Knight should live according to the virtues of loyalty, charity, courtesy and modesty, as well as “self-denial and careful respect for the feelings of others.” Fraternity and patriotism were added to the Knights’ founding principles of charity and unity in 1885 and 1900, respectively. (Source kofc.org)