Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly (right) speaks at the Symposium on Young American Men, a national conversation on restoring purpose, flourishing, and belonging, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3, 2025. Looking on is Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma. / Credit: Matthew H. Barrick
CNA Staff, Nov 5, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
At the Symposium on Young American Men in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 3, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly of the Knights of Columbus said that young men are “lost” and need “purpose and mission.”
The symposium highlighted the mental health crisis, social isolation, digital addiction, and other struggles young men face today.
Panelists — including Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma; Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona; Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas; and other experts — discussed ways to address these challenges by helping young men build community.
“Many young men are lost and disconnected,” Kelly said in an opening statement at the beginning of the symposium. “Many come from broken families with fathers who are not a real part of their life. Many are drowning in the depths of the internet and social media.”
Kelly, who heads the Catholic fraternal organization Knights of Columbus, pointed to loneliness and isolation as a challenge for young men.
“It’s increasingly clear that millions of men no longer have friends who they can count on and who can spur them on to excellence,” Kelly continued. “More than a quarter of millennials say they have no close friends, and the rise of artificial intelligence has millions of young men looking for friendship in chatbots.”
Ellen Carmichael, founder of The Lafayette Company, the communications group hosting the symposium, said there is an “urgent need” for action.
“Recent incidents of political violence and growing national concern about young men’s social isolation have underscored what we already knew: This conversation cannot wait,” Carmichael stated.
“We are hardwired as men for purpose and mission,” Kelly said, noting that the Knights of Columbus is centered on Christ and service to local communities.
“We are trying to tackle what the surgeon general recently called the epidemic of loneliness and isolation,” Kelly noted. “We’re giving men the kind of community they truly need, and we will continue to help America’s young men find meaning and mission in life.”
“We’ve always known that men need meaning in life and that a man’s ultimate meaning comes from his personal relationship with others and with God,” Kelly said.
“Friendship is the key,” he said. “Christ did his ministry through friendships … he assembled 12 friends, imperfect people.”
In a panel on the role of faith in rebuilding community for men, Kelly said young men “have had enough” of what the culture offers them and “are really yearning for more of an institution and yearning for moorings.”
He noted that the Knights of Columbus have been bringing in a growing number of men over the past few years and that after an era of relativism, there has been a “swing back” among young men toward tradition.
In a change from previous generations, he said, young men are drawn to ritual.
“The areas they’re searching leave them empty,” Kelly said, so “they turn to God.”
