SW News: The founding father of the Knights of Columbus, Venerable Fr. Michael McGivney will be beatified on October 31, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut.

There will be a Thanksgiving Mass presided by Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori on November 1, at St Mary’s church in New Haven.

In May 2020, Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Fr. Michael J. McGivney. The miracle involved the healing of an unborn child with a life-threatening condition.

Father McGivney was born on August 12, 1852, the eldest of 13 children born to  Irish immigrants, Patrick and Mary Lynch McGivney in Waterbury, Connecticut. He joined the seminary at the age of 16 where his intellectual talents were recognized. In 1877, he was ordained in Baltimore by Archbishop James Gibbons.

He founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882, with a small group of Catholic laymen in the basement of St. Mary’s Church,  in order to strengthen the Catholic faith and to help families overwhelmed by the illness or death of their breadwinner.

Father McGivney was a testament to the power of spiritual brotherhood and charity. He encouraged his parishioners to put into practice the teachings of Christ – love of God and  love of neighbor. He was a man of deep prayer who did not restrict himself behind the altar, but rather he was constantly out among the people, serving them.

"Father McGivney has inspired generations of Catholic men to roll up their sleeves and put their faith into action,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson had said following the Vatican’s decision to beatify Father  Michael McGivney. "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,” Anderson added.

Today with 2 million members, the Knights of Columbus is the largest Catholic fraternal organization in the world.