Members of The Knights of Columbus Suffolk Council 7363 attended the State of Virginia installation of State Officers and District Deputies on Saturday, July 13 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Norfolk. Pete Cogswell of Suffolk was installed as the new district deputy for St. Jude’s in Franklin, St. Mary of the Presentation in Suffolk, St. Matthew’s in Virginia Beach, Prince of Peace and Northwest Radio Station, both in Chesapeake.

His responsibilities are to provide leadership, conduct meetings, and provide communication according to the State of Virginia Knights of Columbus guidelines to those churches.

Father Michael J. McGivney, a parish priest of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn. founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882. The organization has many facets – charity, unity, fraternity, patriotism, defender of the priesthood, and consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In the past decade, the Knights have donated $1 billion to charitable causes and 400 million hours of volunteer service. In 1999 alone, the order had donated over $109 million and 55 million hours of volunteer service.

Locally, the Suffolk Council 7363 from St. Mary of the Presentation on Smith and Broad streets, provides support for the Suffolk Homeless Shelter, Genieve Shelter, Boy and Girl Scouts, mental retardation, Salvation Army, Basket Freethrows through the school systems, church functions, Suffolk Parks and Recreation events, and many other community or church needs. The Grand Knight for the council this year is Dick Sivak.

The Knights of Columbus is the largest lay organization in the Catholic Church with over 1.6 million Knights and 60 in the Suffolk Council. There are over 12,000 councils in the US, Canada, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Cuba.