St Francis Council #4401 of Our Lady Of Sorrows
23815 Power Rd, Farmington, MI 48336 For Members
St Francis Council #4401 of Our Lady Of Sorrows
23815 Power Rd, Farmington, MI 48336 For Members

2025-2026 Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest

Overview

All 8th Graders (OLS and Religious Education students) are invited to participate in the 2025-2026 Knights of Columbus (K of C) Catholic Citizenship Essay Contest. This contest encourages today’s youth to be more connected to their community and their Catholic faith through creative writing. The local contest is being hosted by St. Francis Knights of Columbus Council #4401.

Student essays must be original compositions (no AI or other writing assistance) of 500-750 words that address the following topic:

The office of the papacy was established by Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years ago when He chose St. Peter to lead His Church on earth.

In an essay of 500-750 words, out of the 267 popes that have led the Catholic Church, who are your three favorite popes and why?

Deadline for submissions is December 15, 2025 at 10:00pm. We expect to complete judging over the holidays and announce winners in early January.

Prizes
Cash prizes will be awarded for the top three essays.

Instructions

  1. Download the entry form by clicking here.
  2. Fill out the top portion of the entry form and have your parent/guardian sign.
  3. Scan or take a picture of the completed entry form. (Only the 1st page is needed. You do not need to include the 2nd page)
  4. Write your 500-750 word essay on the topic described and save as a doc, docx, or pdf file.
    Please only include your name in the filename of the document (example: john-smith-essay.pdf).
    Do NOT include your name anywhere in the text of the essay (above or below). If your essay contains your name we will need to remove it before sending to the judges. This may lead to the formatting of your essay (margins, font, etc) to change.
  5. Upload your essay file and entry form file below.

For technical assistance with your entry or problems related to your submission, please have your parent/guardian email jimfilbert@gmail.com

For questions regarding the essay contest, topic, prizes, or judging, please have your parent/guardian email tprancour@gmail.com

Submit Your Essay

Student Name(Required)
Parent/Guardian Name(Required)
You can download the entry form from the link in the instructions above.
Accepted file types: doc, docx, pdf, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, Max. file size: 10 MB.
Essay should be 500-750 words on the topic described above.
Accepted file types: doc, docx, pdf, Max. file size: 10 MB.
Confirmation
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