Fr.
Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus, will be
beatified during a special Mass Oct. 31 at the Cathedral of St. Joseph
in Hartford.
On
May 27, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis, who met with the board
of directors of the Knights of Columbus in February, had signed the
decree recognizing a miracle through the intercession of McGivney,
clearing the way for his beatification. Once he is beatified, he will be
given the title "Blessed."
The
miracle recognized by the Vatican occurred in 2015 and involved an U.S.
baby, still in utero, with a life-threatening condition that, under
most circumstances, could have led to an abortion.
That
baby, Mikey Schachle, is now 5. His parents, Dan and Michelle Schachle,
of Dickson, Tennessee, prayed to McGivney to intercede with God to save
their son, still in his mother's womb, who was given no hope of
surviving a life-threatening case of fetal hydrops.
McGivney
(1852-1890), the son of Irish immigrants, was born in Waterbury,
Connecticut, and was ordained a priest in 1877 for what is now the
Archdiocese of Hartford. He founded the Knights of Columbus at St.
Mary's Parish in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882.
McGivney, who will be the first American parish priest to be beatified and
has long been a hero of working-class Catholics, can be viewed as a
martyr of a pandemic. When he died of pneumonia complications at age 38
in 1890, it was during an outbreak of influenza known as the Russian flu
in Thomaston, Connecticut. Some recent evidence, according to the
Knights, indicates the outbreak may have been the result of a
coronavirus.
"Father McGivney has inspired generations of Catholic men to roll up their sleeves and put their faith into action,"
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said. "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."
Watch the full story of our founder by clicking on the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRbjAWHvyy8
