The Life and Legacy of Fr. McGivney

In mid August of 1890, over 100 years ago, one of the largest funerals in the history of Waterbury, Connecticut took place. The throngs who attended were grieving the death, at age 38, of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus.

Delegations were present from almost every one of the 57 K of C councils which had sprung up in the Order’s first eight years. The bishop of Hartford and more than 70 of Connecticut’s Catholic priests were joined by many civic leaders. It was reported that every available carriage for miles around had been rented for the great procession.

Father McGivney’s funeral was an indication of the love and respect the people felt for this hard working, holy, parish priest. It also reflected the deep personal appeal that immigrant Catholics immediately found in the Knights of Columbus. The Order has never since ceased to grow. Today it is the largest society of Catholic men in the world, with more than a million and a half members in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, and several Central American and Caribbean countries.

To mark their hundredth anniversary in 1982, the Knights of Columbus brought the remains of Father McGivney from Waterbury back to St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, where he had founded the Order. There he now rests in a setting in which daily Mass is offered for the deceased members of the Order and prayers are said in his honor.

Roots

Father Michael McGivney was born in Waterbury on August 12, 1852. His parents, Patrick and Mary (Lynch) McGivney had arrived in the great 19th Century wave of Irish immigration. Patrick McGivney became a molder in the heat and noxious fumes of a Waterbury brass mill. Mary McGivney gave birth to 13 children, six of whom died in infancy or childhood.

So, the first child, Michael, with four living sisters and two brothers, learned early about sorrow and the harsh grip of poverty. He also learned about the powers of love and faith, and family fortitude. He went to the small district schools of Waterbury’s working- class neighborhoods. A good child, he was admired by his school principal for “excellent deportment and proficiency in his studies.”

Then, after the Civil War, when Connecticut’s metals industry was booming, he left school at age 13 to go to work. His job in the spoon-making department of a brass factory provided a few more dollars for family survival. When Michael reached the age of 16 in 1868, he left the factory. With the priesthood clearly in mind, he traveled with his Waterbury pastor to Quebec, Canada. There he registered at the French run College of St. Hyacinthe. He worked hard on subjects which would prepare him to apply for seminary admission. Two academic years followed at Our Lady of Angels Seminary, attached to Niagara University in Niagara Falls, New York. Young McGivney moved next to Montreal to attend seminary classes at the Jesuitrun St. Mary’s College. He was there when his father died in June of 1873

Wings

Lacking funds and concerned about his family, he went home for the funeral, lingering awhile in Waterbury. Then, at the request of the bishop of Hartford, he entered St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland. After four years of study, on December 22, 1877, he was ordained in Baltimore’s historic Cathedral of the Assumption by Archbishop (later Cardinal) James Gibbons. A few days later, with his widowed mother present, he said his first Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Waterbury. Father McGivney began his priestly ministry on Christmas Day in 1877 as curate at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven. It was the city’s first parish. A new stone church had been built, after the old one burned, on one of New Haven’s finest residential streets, Hillhouse Avenue. There was neighborhood objection which even the New York Times noted in 1879, under the headline: “How An Aristocratic Avenue Was Blemished By A Roman Church Edifice.” So Father McGivney’s priestly ministry in New Haven began with tension and defensiveness among the working class Irish families he served. One of the responsibilities of St. Mary’s priests was pastoral care of inmates of the city jail. In a notable case, a 21 year old Irishman, while drunk, shot and killed a police officer. James (Chip) Smith was tried for first degree murder in 1881, convicted and sentenced to be hung. Father McGivney visited him daily.

After a special Mass on the day of execution, the priest’s grief was intense. The young offender comforted him: “Father, your saintly ministrations have enabled me to meet death without a tremor. Do not fear for me, I must not break down now.” Father McGivney worked closely with the young people of St. Mary’s parish, holding catechism classes and organizing a total abstinence society to fight alcoholism. In 1881 he began to explore with various laymen the idea of a Catholic, fraternal benefit society. In an era when parish clubs and fraternal societies had wide popular appeal, the young priest felt there should be some way to strengthen religious faith and at the same time provide for the financial needs of families overwhelmed by illness or death of the breadwinner. He discussed this concept with Bishop Lawrence McMahon of Hartford, and received his approval. He traveled to Boston to talk with the Massachusetts Catholic Order of Foresters, and traveled to Brooklyn to consult the Catholic Benevolent Legion. He met with other priests of the diocese. Wherever he could, he sought information that would help the Catholic laymen to organize themselves into a benefit society.

People who knew Father McGivney in this period were impressed by his energy and intensity. Father Gordian Daley later recalled, “I saw him but once, and yet I remember this pale, beautiful face as if I saw it only yesterday. It was a ‘priest’s face’ and that explains everything. It was a face of wonderful repose. There was nothing harsh in that countenance although there was every- thing that was strong.” William Geary, one of the Order’s charter members, said that at the first council meeting in 1882, he was “acclaimed as founder by 24 men with hearts full of joy and thanksgiving, recognizing that without his optimism, his will to succeed, his counsel and advice they would have failed.” Father McGivney had suggested Sons of Columbus as a name for the Order. This would bind Catholicism and American- ism together through the faith and bold vision of the New World’s discoverer. The word “knights” replaced “sons” becauskey members of the organizing group who were Irish-born Civil War veterans felt it would help to apply a noble ritual in support of the emerging cause of Catholic civil liberty. In the first public reference to the Order on February 8, 1882, the New Haven Morning Journal and Courier said the Knights of Columbus’ initial meeting had been held the night before. On March 29, the Connecticut legislature granted a charter to the Knights of Columbus, formally establishing it as a legal corporation. The Order’s principles in 1882 were “Unity” and “Charity.” The concepts of “Fraternity” and “Patriotism” were added later. Each of these ideals played a major role in the ceremonials from the beginning. The Columbus-linked themes, says historian Christopher J. Kauffman, “reverberated with pride in the American promise of liberty, equality and opportunity.”

Spreading the Word

In April of 1882, Father McGivney, with the permission of Bishop McMahon, wrote to all the pastors of the Diocese of Hartford. The Order’s pri- mary objective, he wrote, was to dissuade Catholics from joining secret soci- eties by providing them better advantages at times of death or sick- ness. He urged each pastor to exert influence “in the formation of a Council in your parish.” Father McGivney person- ally installed the first offi- cers of San Salvador Council No. 1 in New Haven, in May of 1882. By May 1883, Council No. 2 had been instituted in Meriden, Connecticut and Bishop McMahon, so impressed with the organization, became himself a member of Council No. 11 in 1884, and served it as council chaplain. By the end of 1885, there were 31 coun- cils in Connecticut. Father McGivney’s dedication to the Order was evidenced in trips he made to all parts of Con- necticut and in handwritten correspondence little of which survives about K of C business. At St. Mary’s, despite all this, he remained the energetic curate with constant concern for every parishioner’s problems. Then, in November of 1884, he was named pastor of St. Thomas’ Church in Thomaston, Connecticut, a factory town 10 miles from his home- town. It was a factory parish, heavily in debt, service working class parishioners with few resources beyond their faith. With prayerful acceptance, Father McGivney put his seven years at St. Mary’s behind him. His New Haven parishioners, in a testimonial resolution elaborately superimposed on the drawing of a chalice and host, declared that despite burdens and afflictions, his courtesy, his kindness and the purity of his life had “secured the love and confidence of the people of St. Mary’s, which will follow him in every future field of labor.” In six subsequent years at St. Thomas’, he wrestled with the church debt and built the same close ties of devotion and charitable concern he had developed in New Haven. He continued, as well, to serve as supreme chap- lain, personally involved in helping the Order to extend its membership into Rhode Island. Later, from 1901 to 1939, his younger brothers, Msgrs. Patrick and John J. McGivney, served the Order as supreme chaplains.

"That Act Alone..."

Never robust in health, Father McGivney was suddenly stricken with a serious case of pneumonia in January 1890. Various treatments for consumptive illness were tried, but this decline persisted. The young priest lost physical strength just as the Order he founded was moving toward new vitality. On August 14, 1890, Father Michael J. McGivney died at the age of 38. In his 13 brief, busy years as a priest, Father McGivney's spiety and compassion won the love of those he served as curate and pastor.

His Christian inspiration, leadership and administrative drive had brought him the loyalty and affection of thousands who knew him as the founder of the Knights of Columbus. From the moment he launched it, the organization fortified Catholics in their faith, offered them ways to greater financial security in a sometimes hostile world, and strengthened them in self-esteem. Remarkably developed from its simple beginnings in a church basement, the Knights of Columbus today combines Catholic fraternalism and one of the most successful American insurance enterprises. The four towers of the international headquarters symbolize the Order’s worldwide commitment to charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism. More than 14,000 fraternal councils are active in 13 countries. A million seven hundred thousand Knights contributed over $143 million and more than 68 million hours of volunteer service for charitable causes during the last fraternal year. And as a particular result of the Order’s multifaceted services to the Church the board of directors in 1988 conducted formal business of the Order for the first time in a room named for the Knights of Columbus within the ancient St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. At St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Father McGivney’s sarcophagus, sheltered inside a totally restored church, now has become a shrine for pilgrim Knights where the Order began.

At the first memorial service for a deceased Knight held later in the year he died, this tribute was accorded him: "He was a man of the people and was zealous of the people's welfare, and all the kindliness of his priestly soul asserted itself more strongly in his unceasing efforts for the treatment of their condition...Oh, Reverend Founder...that act alone which gave lift to the Knights of Columbus as surely secured for the everlasting joy and enternal peace."

Miracle for Mikey

Michael "Mikey" Schachle, 5 years old, climbs onto a stump in the yard of his family's home in Dickson, Tenn. He takes stock of the short distance to the trampoline below, steps off and lands with a happy bounce, followed by hugs from several of his 12 siblings.

It’s a scene that would have been impossible for his parents, Daniel and Michelle Schachle, to imagine when they first learned that their unborn son had a deadly case of fetal hydrops and zero chance of living.

It took a miracle to save Mikey.

Last May, Pope Francis formally approved a decree recognizing Mikey’s cure as a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. The decree advanced Father McGivney’s cause for sainthood, leading to his beatification Oct. 31.

For Daniel Schachle, a past grand knight of St. Mary’s Mission Council 8083 in Savannah, Tenn., and a Knights of Columbus general agent, the miracle that saved his son’s life is both utterly mysterious and beautifully fitting.

“I don’t know why God chose Michael,” he said, noting that many people praying for a miracle do not receive one. “I’m grateful for his mercy that he did.”

At the same time, Daniel marvels at how Mikey’s miracle reflects the work of the Order that Father McGivney founded.

“I look at Father McGivney, and I look at what the Knights of Columbus does for special needs children, for the prolife cause,” he said. “If there was ever a baby Father McGivney would want to help, this is who it would be.”

SAYING YES TO GOD

The Schachles like to tell people they met in prison. In the mid-1990s, Michelle was a single mother with twin daughters working in an office at the correctional facility where Daniel was working as a guard.

Their friendship blossomed into a romance; they were married in 1997, and Daniel soon adopted Michelle’s 4 year old girls.

Michelle converted to Catholicism and entered the Church on their wedding day.

“At first, I kind of struggled with Mary, which is funny to me now,” said Michelle, noting that her family is consecrated to the Blessed Virgin.

Praying to saints was another aspect of the Catholic faith that was initially difficult for her to accept. “It just seemed to be wrong to go through anybody but Jesus,” she said.

One part of Catholic teaching that Michelle had no trouble accepting was respect for life. “When I became Catholic, right to life was something I could grab on to,” she said.

Over time, Michelle fully embraced all the Church’s teachings and devotions, and they became a lifeline when she needed them most.

She and Daniel did not plan on having such a big family, but over the years, Michelle explained, “We said yes to God, one at time.”

Late in 2014, Michelle became pregnant with their 13th child. On New Year’s Eve, she received an ultrasound exam, and doctors found markers indicating the child had Down syndrome.

“That didn’t matter to us,” Daniel said. “It’s actually a gift to our family.”

But the doctors saw other troubling signs and sent Michelle for more tests. On Feb. 25, 2015, the doctors delivered the news. The baby had a severe case of fetal hydrops, a life-threatening condition involving an abnormal buildup of fluids in the tissue around the lungs, heart or abdomen, or under the skin.

Daniel pressed a doctor for a percentage on the chances their son would live. “She finally said, ‘I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and I’ve never seen anybody survive.’”

In their bedroom that night, Michelle wept inconsolably, but “Dan was quiet for a moment,” she recalled.

“He looked at me and said, ‘I just prayed that if Father McGivney saves him, I’m naming him Michael.’”

Daniel had been praying for Father McGivney’s intercession for many years, starting when he was looking for a career change and landed on the possibility of becoming a Knights of Columbus field agent.

“The last thing I ever imagined myself being was a life insurance agent,” admitted Daniel, a Knight since 1994. “But once I read about Father McGivney, it was really eye-opening to me. It was love of widows and orphans that drove him to start the Knights of Columbus.”

Daniel is now the general agent for Tennessee, Kentucky and the eastern half of Arkansas, overseeing the work of 16 field agents.

“We are the stewards of Father McGivney’s vision,” said Daniel, who sees his work as a ministry.

So, it was natural for Daniel to seek the intercession of Father McGivney.

“It was like just going to one of your friends and saying, ‘Pray for me,’” he said.

THERE’S ALWAYS HOPE

The diagnosis came just as Daniel and Michelle were preparing to go on a Knights of Columbus pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal, in March 2015. A special incentive trip for high-performing agents, it also included visits to the Vatican and Madrid.

Before leaving, Daniel and Michelle sent out email messages to as many people as they could, asking them to pray for the intercession of Father McGivney to save their son.

“I prayed, ‘Please, Father McGivney, let him be the miracle,’” Michelle said. “I went from ‘How will I take care of a child with Down syndrome?’ to ‘Please God, I want a child with Down syndrome.’ I had hope.”

The Schachles prayed throughout the pilgrimage for Father McGivney’s intercession, and priests in Rome and in their home parish offered Masses for them. But it was a Mass in Fatima on March 16 that left the most powerful impression.

The Gospel reading for the day was John 4:43-54 the story of the official who asked Jesus to heal his son. Two verses read: “The royal official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You may go; your son will live.’ The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.”

“We both looked at each other with our mouths open,” Daniel recalled. “It was surreal.”

Four days after the Schachles returned from the pilgrimage, Michelle went back to the doctor’s office for an ultrasound.

“I was pretty scared,” she said. “The technician kept looking and looking; she was taking a long time.”

Eventually, she showed Michelle a sonogram of the baby’s face with none of the swelling and fluid buildup that had been so apparent on the last ultrasound.

“This is the prettiest baby I’ve ever seen,” she told Michelle.

Dr. Mary Anne Carroll, a member of the practice whom Michelle had not yet met, then arrived to discuss the ultrasound.

“She started talking about this and that, about what we’re going to do when the baby is born,” Michelle remembered. “I said, ‘What about the fluid in the lungs?’ She replied, ‘A lot of babies have a little fluid in the lungs.’

“Wait a minute,” Michelle said. “I was told there was no hope.”

Only then did Dr. Carroll realize that Michelle and her baby were the patients she had heard about from her colleagues. She consulted with the other doctors in the practice, who confirmed that the baby was no longer showing any signs of fetal hydrops.

The doctors made an extensive search for a reversible cause of the hydrops that would explain its disappearance but found nothing.

“It was just there and then it was gone,” Michelle said. But Mikey and Michelle weren’t completely out of the woods. Doctors were worried that the blood flow through the umbilical cord was restricted. On May 15, 2015, week 31 of her pregnancy, they told her, “We have to do the C-section today.”

Daniel was in San Antonio for a business meeting, but Michelle was not worried.

“I felt completely at peace,” she said.

Michael McGivney Schachle was born May 15, 2015, weighing just 3 pounds, 4 ounces.

“Michael was perfect just the way he was,” said Michelle.

Mikey did, however, still face serious health issues. Like many babies born with Down syndrome, he had a heart condition that required surgery, which was performed seven weeks after he was born.

FOUNDER’S FOOTPRINT

Daniel told staff at the Knights of Columbus headquarters in New Haven, Conn., about Mikey, which eventually led to a formal inquiry into the case. The Diocese of Nashville convened a tribunal in 2016 to investigate and gather facts by interviewing the Schachles and all the doctors involved.

“It was like being deposed,” Daniel said of the process.

The investigation focused on determining two things: that what occurred was indeed a miracle an extraordinary event that has no current scientific or medical explanation and that the prayers to save Mikey’s life were directed specifically to Father McGivney.

For example, the tribunal asked the Schachles how they knew the cure could be attributed to Father McGivney’s intercession and not that of Our Lady of Fatima. Dan and Michelle recounted how they specifically prayed for the intercession of Father McGivney and asked many others to do the same.

“How can you look at this and not know it was Father McGivney? There are so many coincidences,” said Daniel, as he began to tick off a list: Mikey was born on May 15, the same date in 1882 that the first Knights of Columbus council was chartered; Michelle and Father McGivney share a birthday, Aug. 12; Father McGivney was the oldest of 13 children, and Mikey is the youngest of 13.

“Everything that the Knights stand for all of those things are in our story,” added Michelle, noting the Order’s work to respect life at all its stages; its support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; and its support of families.

Members of the tribunal also inquired why the Schachles didn’t pray their son would be cured of Down syndrome as well.

“Why would we have asked for that?” Daniel asked in response. “God made him that way. I’m good with that.”

After the diocesan tribunal completed its report, the postulator of Father McGivney’s sainthood cause in Rome submitted it to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for its review. A panel of physicians examined the medical record, and a panel of theologians examined the spiritual record of the case before making a recommendation for the pope’s approval.

The Schachles were confident that Mikey’s cure would be declared a miracle. “We never had any doubts,” Daniel said. And on May 26, it was.

“We know this isn’t anything we’ve done,” Daniel added. “I could never deserve what God has done for us.”

Today, Mikey’s health problems are under control, and he is an active 5-year-old.

“We have Michael,” Michelle said. “Michael’s life has changed our life.”

“It helped our family not take the faith for granted,” Daniel explained. “It’s very real to us now that we are the sons and daughters of a very loving Father.”

ANDY TELLI is managing editor of the Tennessee Register and a member of Bishop Alphonse J. Smith Council 3763 in Madison, Tenn. An extended version of this article originally appeared in the Tennessee Register, the newspaper of the Diocese of Nashville.

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Join Our Founder’s Cause

PROMOTE BLESSED MICHAEL MCGIVNEY’S cause for canonization by joining the Father Michael J. McGivney Guild. Established in 1997 after the cause was formally opened, the Guild spreads devotion to the founder of the Knights of Columbus, receives and publishes reports of favors received through his intercession, and preserves and distributes relics of this blessed servant of God.

Membership in the Guild is free and open to anyone who is devoted to Father McGivney. Members receive a quarterly newsletter about his life and spirituality and can request a prayer card with a third class relic. They are also remembered in a weekly Mass offered for their intentions. Most importantly, the Guild plays an active role in the cause by praying for Father McGivney’s intercession in times of need, especially in cases of serious illness. Since one more confirmed miracle is needed for Father McGivney to be canonized a saint, the Guild encourages people to recite regularly the prayer for canonization and to report any favors received.

To learn more about the Father Michael J. McGivney Guild and how you can spread devotion to this model parish priest, visit www.fathermcgivney.org.

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Father Michael J. McGivney’s Cause for Canonization

Milestones

1. Cause Opens

Dec. 18, 1997 Father McGivney’s cause for sainthood is officially opened by Archbishop Daniel A. Cronin of Hartford. Father McGivney is given the title “Servant of God.”

2. Diocesan Review Completed

March 6, 2000 The diocesan investigation into Father McGivney’s life, holiness and virtues closes.

3. Positio Submitted to Rome

May 2002 A 1,000-page document (Positio) laying out the case for Father McGivney’s cause is presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.

4. St. John Paul II Commends K of C and Founder

October 2003 In a message to the Knights of Columbus, St. John Paul II praises the Order and its founder: “In fidelity to the vision of Father McGivney, may you continue to seek new ways of being a leaven of the Gospel in the world and a spiritual force for the renewal of the Church in holiness, unity and truth.”

5. Biography Published

July 2006 Parish Priest: Father McGivney and American Catholicism, a biography by historians Douglas Brinkley and Julie Fenster, is published by William Morrow/Harper Collins.

6. Declared Venerable

March 15, 2008 Confirming Father McGivney’s heroic virtue, Pope Benedict XVI declares him a “Venerable Servant of God.” The decree states, in part, “Concerning the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love both toward God and neighbor … they existed to a heroic degree in the Servant of God Michael McGivney, Diocesan Priest and Founder of the Fraternal Order the Knights of Columbus.”

7. Pope Benedict XVI Cites ‘Exemplary American Priest’

April 19, 2008 During his visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, Pope Benedict XVI cites the “remarkable accomplishment of that exemplary American priest, the Venerable Michael McGivney, whose vision and zeal led to the establishment of the Knights of Columbus.”

8. Miracle Investigated

September 2017 Results of an investigation into a possible miracle attributed to the intercession of Father McGivney are sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

9. Pope Francis Praises Father McGivney’s Vision

Feb. 10, 2020 Pope Francis tells the K of C Board of Directors that the Order has been faithful “to the vision of your founder, Venerable Michael McGivney, who was inspired by the principles of Christian charity and fraternity to assist those most in need.” Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori presents Pope Francis with a copy of Parish Priest in Italian.

10. Miracle Approved for Beatification

May 27, 2020 After extensive medical and theological reviews, the Holy See announces that Pope Francis has authorized a decree regarding a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father McGivney, opening the way for his beatification Oct. 31.

Blessed Michael J. McGivney Beatified

The Founder of the Knights of Columbus was officially declared "Blessed" in a Mass Celebrated on October 31st.

HARTFORD, CONN. Attendees at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Hartford, Conn., erupted in applause and church bells rang as Father Michael J. McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, was officially declared “blessed” at his beatification Mass held on Oct. 31.

In a decree from the Vatican that was read at the Mass, Pope Francis credited now-Blessed Michael McGivney for his “zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for his brothers and sisters” that “made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance.”

The Vatican decree was read by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, the main celebrant of the Mass, with Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore — Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus providing a translation. Other dignitaries present included Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford, as well as Supreme Knight Carl Anderson and other Supreme Council officers.

The celebrations emphasized Blessed McGivney’s humility, his holy witness and his love for the parishioners he served, with his “crowning achievement” being the establishment of the Knights of Columbus.

The beatification Mass follows five months after the May 27 announcement that Pope Francis approved a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father McGivney. The miracle involved the healing of Michael “Mikey” Schachle from fetal hydrops, which causes a fatal accumulation of fluids throughout the body of an unborn child.

The Schachle family, including Mikey, attended the beatification Mass and presented Cardinal Tobin with one of Blessed McGivney’s relic. Members of the K of C founder’s remaining relatives also participated in the celebration.

During the event, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson read a brief biography of the K of C founder, stating that Blessed McGivney remains a witness and inspiring example for the more than 2 million members of the Knights of Columbus around the world.

“Nearly a century before the Second Vatican Council, Father McGivney’s vision empowered the laity to serve the Church and their neighbors in a new way, through a greater commitment to charity and build effective cooperation between laity and clergy,” Supreme Knight Anderson said. “Today’s beatification serves to encourage that vision of lay leadership and fellowship.”

Blessed McGivney was born of Irish immigrant parents in 1852 in Waterbury, Conn., and began his priestly ministry in 1887 after being ordained in Baltimore. At a time of anti-Catholic sentiment, he worked tirelessly to offer practical solutions to immigrant Catholic communities in Connecticut. In 1882, he founded the Knights of Columbus to provide spiritual support to men and offer financial resources for families that had suffered the loss of a breadwinner. He died of pneumonia on Aug. 14, 1890, after falling ill amid a pneumonia pandemic.

The process for his possible canonization officially opened in 1997. In March 2008, Pope Benedict XVI declared Father McGivney “a Venerable Servant of God,” citing the “remarkable accomplishment of that exemplary American priest.” Today’s beatification brings Father McGivney one step further in the canonization process, which could eventually lead to a declaration of Father McGivney’s sainthood.

Supreme Knight Anderson thanked Pope Francis, Cardinal Tobin, Archbishop Blair and others for their support in this process, saying that he believes that the beatification will reinvigorate the Knights’ charity and strengthen the Order’s fraternal brotherhood. He evoked Pope Francis’ new encyclical Fratelli Tutti which calls Catholics to decide whether to be “Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders” saying it was “providential” that it was published the same month as Blessed McGivney’s beatification.

“We know the decision blessed Father Michael McGivney made, and we know the decision many of his brother Knights made following his example,” Supreme Knight Anderson said. “Inspired by the example of blessed Father Michael McGivney, let us now go forward with a renewed spirit of charity so that we too can be a blessing to all people.”

Blessed Michael McGivney’s liturgical memorial will be observed annually on Aug. 13, the day in-between his birth (Aug. 12) and death (Aug. 14).

Want to learn more about Father McGivney’s legacy and influence on people around the world? Visit kofc.org/beatification.

Share your story with andrew.fowler@kofc.org