The
Founder of the Knights of Columbus
Over a century
ago, in mid-August of 1890, 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 Knights of Columbus
councils that had been chartered 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. Since that time, the Order's growth has never stopped. Today it is the
largest society of Catholic men in the world, with 1.6 million members in the
United States, Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, and several Central American and
Caribbean countries.
To mark the Order's 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 and their deceased spouses
of the Order and prayers are said in his honor. His cause for canonization is
proceeding.
| Canonization Guild | Web Life of Fr. McGivney | Video Life of Fr. McGivney |