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Founder Father McGivney
Founder Father McGivney
Father Michael J. McGivney (1852-1890), born and raised in a Connecticut factory town, the modern era's ideal of the priesthood hit its zenith. The son of Irish immigrants, he was a man to whom "family values" represented more than mere rhetoric. He left a legacy of hope still celebrated around the world.
In the late 1800s, discrimination against American Catholics was widespread. Many Catholics struggled to find work and ended up in inferno like mills. An injury of the death of the wage earner would leave a family penniless.
The grim threat of chronic homelessness and even starvation could fast become realities. Called to action in 1882 by his sympathy for these suffering people, Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus.
The Knights of Columbus was formed as a fraternal benefit society offering low-cost life insurance to Catholic families facing destitution if abreadwinner died. Through the Knights of Columbus, Father McGivney gave Catholic laymen a new opportunity and the chance to grow in holiness while contributing to their parishes, communities and security of their families. Today, more and more Church leaders are recognizing his spiritual genius in animating the laity.
Today the Knights of Columbus has more than $50 billion of life insurance in force. Its insurance program has received the highest possible ratings from both the A. M. Best Co. and Standard & Poor's.
Father Michael J McGivney Guild
Father Michael J McGivney Guild
The Father Michael J. McGivney Guild serves as a source for information about the life, works and spirituality of Father McGivney. The Guild distributes informational materials about him, receives reports of favors granted through his intercession and oversees the distribution of relics. There are more than 83,000 members of the Father McGivney Guild.
The purpose of the Guild is to inspire greater personal holiness and cooperation with God's grace by disseminating information about Father McGivney. "The Guild's goal is to spread the good word about Father McGivney's holiness of life, to encourage devotion to his memory and to seek his intercession before the throne of God," said Dominican Father Gabriel B. O'Donnell, guild director and postulator of Father McGivney's cause for canonization.
The Knights of Columbus founded the Guild in 1997 concurrently with the archdiocesan phase of Father McGivney's cause for canonization. Membership in the Guild, which is free, is open to all individuals and households, but not groups. Members of the Knights of Columbus are not automatically Guild members and must elect to join the Guild.
Those devoted to Father McGivney are encouraged to join the Guild and regularly say the prayer for his canonization, which is available online and on a special prayer card. Members are asked to pray for Father McGivney's canonization, report favors received and assist in the advancement of the cause.
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