FilAm Elected Grand Knight of Historic D.C. Knights of Columbus council

In just over a year, Patrick Realiza’s search for Catholic fellowship at St. Matthew’s grew into a deeper calling to leadership, community and service as Grand Knight of Potomac Council 433.

For Patrick Realiza, becoming a Knight of Columbus began with a simple desire: to find a community of Catholic men with whom he could grow in faith, friendship and service.

What he found became much more.

After becoming involved in parish life at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., Realiza discovered a fraternity grounded in the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. Within a little more than a year, his journey would take him from attending a Knights of Columbus men’s gathering to becoming a Brother Knight, serving as Chancellor and ultimately assuming leadership of the historic Potomac Council 433 as its Grand Knight.

Today, Realiza hopes to use that role not only to preserve the Council’s long tradition of service but also to introduce a new generation of Catholic men throughout the DMV area to the fellowship that first welcomed him.

Finding a Community at St. Matthew’s

Realiza’s connection to St. Matthew’s began before he formally became a parishioner in November 2024.

By March 2024, he was already attending Mass and becoming involved in several parish ministries. One of his earliest opportunities came when Thomas Stehle, Pastoral Associate for Liturgy and Director of Music, invited him to participate in an Earth Day service and carols concert that spring.

Those experiences gave Realiza an opportunity to become more connected to parish life.

Later that summer and into early fall, another invitation would prove particularly important: attending a Cor men’s group gathering organized through the Knights of Columbus.

Cor, the Latin word for “heart,” is a faith-centered initiative focused on bringing Catholic men together through prayer, formation and fraternity.

For Realiza, it provided something he had been searching for.

Through the gatherings, he gradually developed friendships and discovered a community of Catholic men who encouraged one another in their faith. Those relationships planted the idea that he might someday become a Knight himself.

By early 2025, that possibility was becoming increasingly serious.

An Encounter That Made an Impact

A significant moment came in March 2025, when Realiza attended the Installation Mass of Cardinal Robert McElroy for the Archdiocese of Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

There, Realiza had the unexpected opportunity to meet Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly, the head of the Knights of Columbus.

Their conversation was brief, but Realiza remembers its impact.

Kelly encouraged him to join the organization and suggested that he could make a valuable addition to Potomac Council at St. Matthew’s.

The encounter provided Realiza with another push toward making his involvement official.

The following month, in April 2025, he formally joined the Knights of Columbus.

Realiza completed the First, Second and Third Degree exemplifications, representing the Knights’ foundational principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity. Later, in October 2025, he completed his Fourth Degree Exemplification, representing the principle of Patriotism.

Becoming a Knight was the beginning of his involvement rather than the culmination of it.

From New Knight to Council Leader

Only a month after formally joining the organization, Realiza found himself taking on his first major leadership responsibility.

During Potomac Council’s elections for the 2025–2026 Fraternal Year in May 2025, he was elected Chancellor.

In that role, Realiza supported the Council’s Grand Knight while focusing particularly on membership and recruitment. With no Deputy Grand Knight serving at the time, he also stepped forward to fulfill additional leadership responsibilities when needed, including presiding over meetings in the Grand Knight’s absence.

For someone who had only recently joined the Knights, the experience required Realiza to learn quickly.

But it also gave him an opportunity to contribute directly to the future of the Council.

One of his most memorable accomplishments as Chancellor came during the Council’s fall membership drive at St. Matthew’s in November 2025.

Rather than simply asking men to join, Realiza shared his own experience.

Speaking on behalf of Potomac Council during the weekend drive, he told parishioners about his journey and invited Catholic men to consider becoming part of the fraternity themselves.

The effort helped bring seven new young Knights into Potomac Council.

For Realiza, their decision to join was particularly meaningful. Only months earlier, he had been the newcomer searching for a community. Now he was helping other men discover one.

Taking the Mission Beyond the Council

Realiza’s recruitment efforts eventually extended beyond St. Matthew’s.

Through his friendship with Reverend Gladstone Stevens, Rector of Theological College at The Catholic University of America, Realiza received an opportunity to speak with seminarians about the Knights of Columbus.

His message encouraged seminarians either to consider becoming Knights themselves or to become more actively engaged with the organization and its mission.

The opportunity reflected Realiza’s growing interest in expanding the Council’s relationships throughout the Catholic community of Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

For him, strengthening the Knights is not simply about increasing membership numbers. It is about creating opportunities for Catholic men to build meaningful relationships, deepen their faith and find practical ways to serve the Church.

Service Through the Simple Things

Some of Realiza’s most meaningful experiences as a Knight have also been among the simplest.

During the Lenten season, Potomac Council sponsored and served one of St. Matthew’s Simple Lenten Soup Meals.

Realiza joined his fellow Brother Knights in serving parishioners during one of the final Fridays of Lent.

There were no elaborate ceremonies or major speeches. Instead, service meant offering a simple bowl of soup and sharing fellowship with members of the parish.

For Realiza, that simplicity captured an essential part of what being a Knight means.

The experience was humbling, but also rewarding. Something as ordinary as serving a meal could become a meaningful act of charity and contribute, even in a small way, to another person’s Lenten journey.

It was a reminder that leadership is not always about being the person standing at the front of a room. Sometimes, leadership means being willing to serve.

Representing Potomac Council

As the 2025–2026 Fraternal Year approached its conclusion, Realiza received another opportunity to represent his Brother Knights.

In late April 2026, he represented Potomac Council at the Knights of Columbus District of Columbia State Convention, held at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine.

There, he was entrusted with formally casting votes on behalf of Potomac Council on important initiatives before the state organization.

The experience represented another milestone in a journey that had begun less than two years earlier with his first exposure to the Knights through Cor.

Realiza was no longer simply learning about the organization. He was now helping represent his Council within it.

And another significant responsibility was approaching.

Becoming Grand Knight

On July 1, 2026, Patrick Realiza officially assumed the role of Grand Knight of Potomac Council 433.

For Realiza, leading the Council carries particular significance because of its history.

Founded in 1899, Potomac Council has served generations of Catholic men and the wider community for more than a century. As the newest Grand Knight of the 127-year-old Council, Realiza recognizes that he is inheriting a legacy created by generations of Brother Knights before him.

His responsibility now is to honor that history while preparing the Council for its next chapter.

Working alongside his new leadership team, Council Chaplain Monsignor W. Ronald Jameson, and the priests of St. Matthew’s, Realiza is focused on ensuring that Potomac Council continues responding to the needs of the parish and surrounding community.

At the same time, he wants the Council to continue growing.

Strengthening membership and increasing active participation remain priorities, particularly when it comes to welcoming younger Catholic men. Realiza also hopes to introduce new and innovative ideas that can raise the Council’s profile and broaden its reach throughout the DMV.

His experience recruiting seven young Knights demonstrated what can happen when potential members hear directly from someone willing to share why the fraternity matters.

Now, as Grand Knight, he has the opportunity to build upon that momentum.

Faith at the Center

Realiza’s rise from Brother Knight to Grand Knight happened quickly, but the principles behind his journey have remained consistent.

Charity. Unity. Fraternity.

They are the principles he encountered through his exemplifications when he formally became a Knight, but they are also values he hopes will define his leadership.

For Realiza, being Grand Knight is not simply about holding an office. It is about serving the pastoral needs of the priests, parishioners, Brother Knights and members of the surrounding community.

It also means making sure the fraternity that welcomed him remains open and inviting to the Catholic men who will come next.

In a diverse region like the DMV, Realiza sees an opportunity for the Knights to bring together men of different ages and backgrounds around a common Catholic faith and commitment to service.

His own journey demonstrates how that can begin.

A parish invitation led to greater involvement. A men’s gathering led to friendship. Friendship led to fraternity. And fraternity ultimately led to leadership.

Now, as Grand Knight, Realiza hopes to create those same opportunities for others.

As Potomac Council 433 enters a new chapter in its long history, Realiza asks the community to keep him and his fellow Brother Knights in their thoughts and prayers.

Above all, he hopes their work will remain guided by the example of the Knights of Columbus’ founder, Blessed Michael McGivney—and by a commitment to turn Catholic faith into meaningful action.

For Patrick Realiza, becoming Grand Knight may represent a new title, but the mission that brought him to the Knights remains the same: to grow in faith, strengthen fraternity and serve others.