The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
K of C founder will be ‘Blessed’
Rev. Michael McGivney 1 miracle from sainthood
When the Rev. Michael McGivney becomes “Blessed Michael McGivney” on Saturday, he will show that a humble parish priest is just as much of a role model as a pope or a sister who worked with the poorest of the poor.
That is the message that McGivney’s beatification will send to Roman Catholics around the world, said Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, leader of the Knights of Columbus, which McGivney founded in 1882 in St. Mary Church in New Haven.
“It’s a validation of Father McGivney’s life and vision, offering men a path of charity, unity and brotherhood” and showing that “practicing your Catholic faith is something very special, especially
“It’s a validation of Father McGivney’s life and vision, offering men a path of charity, unity and brotherhood” and showing that “practicing your Catholic faith is something very special, especially today.”
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, leader of the Knights of Columbus
today,” he said.
McGivney, who died of pneumonia at age 38, worked among immigrants who suffered just as newly arrived Americans do today, Anderson said.
“You think about 19thcentury America and the situation of Catholic immigrants. There was discrimination, there was violence, there was poverty,” Anderson said.
Many immigrants are subjected to the same issues today, and McGivney’s life poses the question, “What should your neighbor’s response be? And McGivney says it’s charity and brotherhood,” Anderson said.
“What Father McGivney’s beatification says is, right where you are you can live this kind of life and you should,” he said.
In 2015, Mikey Schachle of Tennessee had yet to be born but was suffering a condition incompatible with life, according to the Knights. His parents prayed to McGivney and Mikey and his family will be present for the ceremony. His healthy birth is considered a miracle, attributed to the intervention of McGivney. A second confirmed miracle is needed for sainthood.
Anderson said while McGivney’s life is held up as a model for parish priests, it also sends a message to laymen “to do more and shoulder more responsibility. Do the thing you’re called to do, take your family responsibility seriously,” as well as parish, neighbor and workplace.
“Step up and take responsibility and look at the problem yourself and find ways to solve them, and don’t always look to the priest,” Anderson said. He said Catholics can ask themselves, “Do I measure up well? Can I do a better job?”
The worldwide presence of the Knights of Columbus also will help to bring the message of McGivney’s life to other Catholics, Anderson said.
“Given the fact we’re in 10,000 parishes in the U.S., we have an effect on the church,” he said.
McGivney’s beatification Mass, which will be celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 140 Farmington Ave., Hartford, at 11 a.m. Saturday, will be the centerpiece of a weekend-long St. Mary’s McGivney Festival, which will begin with a priests’ vigil at 7 p.m. Friday. Saturday’s Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., representing Pope Francis, will be livestreamed in St. Mary Church and at kofc.org/beatification. It also will be shown on EWTN TV.
There will be an outdoor procession at 6:30 p.m. Saturday and a Mass of Thanksgiving will be celebrated at noon Sunday at St. Mary.
Apanel discussion will take place at St. Mary at 4:15 p.m. Saturday and the Schachle family will speak at 7:30. A candlelight service will be held at 11:30 p.m. Registration is required for in-person events at St. Mary’s website.
Anyone can submit prayer intentions, for which prayer will be offered at McGivney’s sarcophagus in
St. Mary Church. They may be submitted on the KofC.org/Beatification website beginning at 7 p.m. Friday or by using #FrMcGivney on social media.
Also, at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, there will be a ribbon-cutting for the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center, recreating the Knights of Columbus Museum to be a place for visitors to learn more about McGivney’s life and work.