The importance of the K of C Cor program

Mike Langlois is the Grand Knight of St. Augustine Knights of Columbus Council 7273 in Peru, N.Y. He is also the Upstate Conference Coordinator for Evangelization and Faith Formation for the New York State Knights of Columbus. (Courtesy photo of JASON WYSONG)

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of monthly Knights of Columbus columns on a variety of faith topics. 

In November 2023, I was in my first year as Grand Knight for St. Augustine’s Council 7273, Peru, N.Y., when an article in the Knights of Columbus’ Columbia magazine piqued my interest. The article, titled “At the Heart of Our Mission,” described a pilot of a new Supreme Council men’s faith-based program named Cor. The magazine piece focused on about two dozen men from St. Mary Magdalen Council 12295 in Brighton, Mich., taking the bold step of re-engaging Catholic men to the K of C’s faith roots.

Now, I am a cradle Catholic who attended 12 years of Catholic school, and my parents made sure that the family was at Mass each Sunday. Still, I drifted away from the Church for much of my adult life. In time I learned that God, and not me, was running the show and I’d better get with the plan.  Slowly, through His grace, the desire to build my prayer life and return to the Church had taken a firm hold. In 2019, I put my “faith into action” and joined my local K of C council. After reading the Columbia article, I realized that the Cor program was an opportunity for our council to reacquaint ourselves to, and deepen, our faith.

The name Cor is taken from the motto of St. John Henry Newman, Cor ad cor loquitur, which is Latin for “Heart speaks to heart.” Cor exists to form and strengthen Catholic men in faith and virtue as missionary disciples by drawing them into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, formation and fraternity. What is great about the Cor meetings is that each council can determine how to fulfill the program’s guidelines. The meetings, which are usually held weekly or monthly, cover any faith topic relevant to a particular council. Ideally, the Cor program leader, who can be the council’s faith director or any member the Grand Knight appoints to the position, will poll the meeting attendees for potential topics. A good option is to choose timely topics from the Church’s Liturgical Calendar. No matter which topics a council chooses for a Cor meeting, it is important to keep the meetings informal to encourage meaningful faith-based conversation. In fact, you’d be surprised by the various directions a meeting can go when in a relaxed atmosphere.

Since January 2024, when Council 7273 began its first Cor meeting, topics have included Lent, Easter, Forgiveness, Eucharistic Miracles, An Explanation of the Mass, Lectio Divina, Marian Apparitions, and St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy, to name a few. It’s important to note that a council seeking to institute Cor must involve the pastor and seek his permission before opening the meeting to the entire parish. For Council 7273, we were fortunate to have the complete support of our parish priest and the council membership to begin the regular Cor meetings. We have had a priest at most of our meetings, and their intimate knowledge of the faith brings a powerful dynamic to the conversation. The program’s three pillars are met with a beginning and ending prayer (prayer), the topic presentation (formation), and informal conversation (fraternity). My council has averaged between 12 and 22 men at each meeting. The focus should not be on a particular headcount since, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). The men who have attended the Cor meetings on a regular basis say that having a safe space to discuss real-world faith issues with like-minded men has reinforced their relationship to the Church. Essentially, the Cor meetings address the challenges of faith retention and spiritual isolation by creating small group settings where men can deepen their relationship with Christ.

The Cor meetings are open to all men of the parish and it is not a prerequisite to be a Knight of Columbus. In fact, the opening of these critical faith conversations can attract men who have, for their own reasons, distanced themselves from the church. According to the U.S. Census Bureau for 2024, there were roughly 53 million Catholic adults nationwide. A Pew Research poll, conducted in March 2025, found that only three-in-ten U.S. Catholics (29 percent) attend Mass weekly or more often. The same poll found that nearly six-in-ten Catholic adults (58 percent) are ages 50 and older. The data reveals what Catholics who attend the Mass regularly already know. There is an overall decline in U.S. adults attending weekly church services, and the ones that do are older. The Knights of Columbus are on the front lines with parish pastoral administrators to take risks for social justice, mercy and healing, and evangelization — to bring Jesus to the world. The Cor program can help rebuild the Church by reacquainting — or introducing — men, and their families, to the faith.

The Cor meetings allow men to explore the good, the bad and the ugly of our Catholic faith. Local Knights of Columbus councils should promote the Cor program because it fosters spiritual growth and strengthens council fraternity and, as a healthy by-product, helps to make Catholic men better husbands, fathers, and community members. The Cor member, by way of example, can then be a potential beacon to guide souls back to the church and the Holy Mass.

Mike Langlois is the Grand Knight of St. Augustine Knights of Columbus Council 7273 in Peru, N.Y. He is also the Upstate Conference Coordinator for Evangelization and Faith Formation for the New York State Knights of Columbus, which encompasses the Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Ogdensburg dioceses. Local Knights of Columbus councils interested in fortifying the faith of their memberships, or offering column topic ideas, can contact him at [email protected].