Fr Michael McGivney The founder of the Knights of Columbus, Fr Michael McGivney, is to be beatified during a special Mass on October 31 at the Cathedral of St Joseph in Connecticut.
Born to Irish immigrants to the US Patrick and Mary McGivney, Fr McGivney was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, and was ordained a priest in 1877.
Best known for establishing the Knights of Columbus, he founded the order at St Mary’s Parish in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882.
He originally founded the order with the intention of aiding widows and orphans, but the fraternal order for Catholic men has become the largest lay Catholic organisation in the world with two million members. It now sponsors a wide range of educational, charitable and religious activities.
Fr McGivney will be the first American parish priest to be beatified, and is considered a saint for the time of the coronavirus pandemic, having died of pneumonia complications at age 38 in 1890, during an outbreak of influenza.
“Fr McGivney has inspired generations of Catholic men to roll up their sleeves and put their faith into action,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said.
“He was decades ahead of his time in giving the laity an important role within the church.
“Today, his spirit continues to shape the extraordinary charitable work of Knights as they continue to serve those on the margins of society as he served widows and orphans in the 1880s.”