Father McGivney letter for January - March 2026

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The late 19th century was a time of rapid industrialization across the Western world that led to new conditions, as people moved from rural settings and labor to life and work in crowded cities and factories. Pope Leo XIII responded to these changes in 1891 with his epochal social encyclical Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”), which set the Church on an unprecedented path in addressing the social disorders of modern times. Still referenced today, the encyclical laid out a Catholic perspective on the dignity of the human person, the primacy of the family as the basic social unit, the right to ownership for the common good, the nobility of human labor, and the right of workers to organize to promote justice and fairness for employers and workers alike. Not surprisingly, the groundbreaking document also called both workers and employers to care for those who cannot care for themselves.

GUILD NEWSLETTER

2026

January - March

The late 19th century was a time of rapid industrialization across the Western world that led to new conditions, as people moved from rural settings and labor to life and work in crowded cities and factories. Pope Leo XIII responded to these changes in 1891 with his epochal social encyclical Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”), which set the Church on an unprecedented path in addressing the social disorders of modern times.

2025

October - December

This past October 31 marked five years since Father McGivney was beatified – and what a five years it has been! From the day of the 2020 Mass of Beatification in the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut, numerous favors attributed to the intercession of Blessed Michael McGivney have been reported, some of them truly amazing healings or rapid recoveries.

July - September

In the five years since the beatification of Father Michael J. McGivney, there have been significant changes in the life of the Church. On the diocesan level, we have seen the consolidation of all the churches in New Haven, Conn., into Blessed Michael McGivney Parish, the first in the world to be named for the Founder. In the universal Church, we mourned the death of Pope Francis in April and celebrated the election of Pope Leo XIV in May as the Vicar of Christ on earth.

April - June

The watching world was surprised and thrilled to hear that a US-born cardinal was the first American to be elected to the Chair of St. Peter, taking the name Leo XIV. While noting the historic nature of the papal election, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly also said in a statement, “Since our founding in 1882 by Blessed Michael McGivney, fidelity to the Holy Father has been a defining characteristic of the Knights of Columbus.

January - March

Calling Father Michael McGivney “America’s Parish Priest,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York led the unveiling of a 6-foot, 2-inch, statue of the priest in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which the cardinal called “America’s Parish Church.” Joining in the statue’s dedication on February 22 was Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the Order’s supreme chaplain; Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly; and two McGivney relatives, great grandnephew John Walshe and great grandniece Margaret Ransom.

2024

October - December

In a confluence of celebrations held a few days before the fourth anniversary of the beatification of Father Michael McGivney, Archbishop Christopher Coyne of Hartford celebrated Sunday Mass on Oct. 27 in St. Mary’s Church in New Haven.

July - September

The unveiling of the first in a series of statues of Blessed Michael McGivney spurred joyous enthusiasm on Aug. 13 upon its arrival at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights in the Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y.

April - June

A new statue of Blessed Michael McGivney was dedicated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 8, 2023, the patronal feast of the basilica and of the United States.

January - March

The Knights of Columbus’ top college council hosted a first-class relic of Blessed Michael McGivney on Oct. 30, 2023, with a procession through campus and a late-night Mass attended by more than 100 students.

2023

October - December

A group of eight U.S. college Knights traveled in early August to World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, accompanied by administrators from the Order’s College Council program.

July - September

From a Catholic perspective, New Haven, Conn., is now officially “McGivney City,” and St. Mary’s Church is its vibrant heart.

April - June

As our earthly pilgrimage moves forward from Easter, we look ahead to the “May flowers” that are so closely associated in our Catholic faith with Mary, the Mother of God.

January - March

A resource center for those fleeing Russian aggression in Ukraine was named for the Knights’ founder in a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly.

2022

October - December

Knights of Columbus, family members and other parishioners in the Connecticut towns where Blessed Michael McGivney lived and worked remembered the Order’s founder Aug. 12-14 with a series of Masses, processions, pilgrimages and picnics.

July - September

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Conn., dedicated a statue of Blessed Michael McGivney at St. Margaret Shrine, saying the founder of the Knights of Columbus was “a testimony to the difference that one life can make” who should be a role model for priests everywhere.

April - June

A votive Mass in honor of Blessed Michael McGivney was offered on the 140th anniversary of the founding of the Knights of Columbus, March 29, in St. Mary’s Church in New Haven.

January - March

The Father McGivney Guild made a special visit before Christmas to the priest who was named New Jersey Knights of Columbus Chaplain of 2021. Msgr. Edward C. Puleo, pastor of St. Elizabeth and St. Brigid Parish in Peapack, N.J., received the award from the state council in November, the same month he received a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer from medical specialists.

2021

October - December

Due to the international reach of the Knights of Columbus, the first feast day of Blessed Michael McGivney was celebrated in a number of countries across the globe with Mass, prayer services and veneration of first-class relics.

July - September

What was it that made Father McGivney so exquisitely sensitive to suffering? Perhaps it was the fact that he was the eldest of 13 children and had witnessed the deaths of six of his siblings as well as the awful toll that this took on his parents.

April - June

First-class relics of Blessed Michael McGivney have been spreading devotion to the founder of the Knights of Columbus throughout his home state of Connecticut and even overseas in Poland, where a pilgrimage with relics is taking place.

January - March

What we celebrate today is, first and foremost, the faithfulness of God to the Body of his Son, the Church. In recognizing the holiness of Father McGivney, there are timely signs of God’s providential care that can speak in a personal way to each one of us, especially at this moment of our history.

2020

November - Beatification Issue

The long-awaited moment came on Oct. 31, after years of fervent prayers and a miraculous healing, when the founder of the Knights of Columbus was beatified in the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Conn.

October - December

The healing of an unborn child from a fatal medical condition was the miracle approved by Pope Francis that opened the way for the beatification of Venerable Father Michael McGivney.

July - September

Pope Francis approved the promulgation of a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, a Connecticut priest who served his flock during the pandemic of 1890, before himself becoming ill and dying of pneumonia, with the underlying condition of tuberculosis.

April - June

In a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, Archbishop William E. Lori, the Order’s supreme chaplain, and Supreme Knight Carl Anderson presented the Holy Father with an Italian edition of the biography of Father Michael McGivney.

January - March

The charisms of Father McGivney and the way that his vision should be lived out today were the main topics during a day of reflection sponsored by the Connecticut State Council that was held Jan. 11 at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, Conn.

2019

September - October

To commemorate the birth and death dates of the Knights of Columbus founder, Mass was offered August 14 at the McGivney family burial plot in Old St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Waterbury, Conn.

May - June

To commemorate the birth and death dates of the Knights of Columbus founder, Mass was offered August 14 at the McGivney family burial plot in Old St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Waterbury, Conn.

March - April

Father Michael McGivney almost certainly did not expect the fraternal Order he established in Connecticut in 1882 to be planted some two decades later in the faraway Philippines.

January - February

A major relic of the patron of parish priests was brought to the hometown of the holy parish priest who founded the Knights of Columbus, to help commemorate Venerable Father Michael McGivney’s first Mass after his ordination.

2018

November - December

The dramatic story of Father Michael McGivney was brought to life in the theater where the holy priest had once staged his own parish plays. Thanks to the efforts of Connecticut Knights and the script by Dominican Father Peter John Cameron, a wonderful event took place at the Thomaston Opera House, where a dramatic reading of “He Was Our Father” was staged Aug. 19.

September - October

As part of the Knights of Columbus’ ongoing efforts to aid Christians in the Middle East, displaced families are coming home to a modern apartment complex named for the Order’s founder.

June - July

The life, legacy and sainthood cause of Father Michael McGivney were topics of study and discussion during an event at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C.

March - April

When Father Michael McGivney was declared “Venerable” ten years ago, in March 2008, many asked what exactly that term means.

January - February

The McGivney legacy was recognized at a celebrity fundraiser featuring former major league pitching great David Cone, who helped raise money for the McGivney Community Center in Bridgeport, Conn.

2017

September - October

To touch, to step, to see, to connect. These are very Catholic actions because our faith is immersed in matter. Jesus took flesh, true God and true man, walked the earth, died in his human nature and rose in his glorified body.

May - June

Pope Francis uses the word encounter or encuentro a good deal. In his native Spanish, encuentro means more than just meeting another person; rather, it signals a true and deep meeting of minds and hearts.

March - April

Since Venerable Father Michael McGivney is at the stage of the canonization process in which a miracle is needed for him to be beatified, the Guild often receives questions about what exactly is needed for a miracle to be accepted.

January - February

The McGivney name was honored by a council in upstate New York when it dedicated its meeting place to a relative of the Order’s founder. In a ceremony on Oct. 9, 2016, Watertown (N.Y.) Council 259, which was chartered in 1897, named its new home for Garry T. McGivney, a member of the council for 24 years until his death in 2014.

2016

November - December

When college Knights gathered in New Haven, Conn., for their annual conference, devotion to Venerable Father Michael McGivney was part of the proceedings.

September - October

After being elected grand knight of Our Lady of Grace Council 3401 in Toronto, Adrian de Rooy asked more experienced Knights, “What do I do?” His district deputy told him to use his God-given talents to raise funds for charity. So de Rooy, a professional artist, started painting.

May - June

The annual Founder’s Day Mass was celebrated March 29 in St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, marking the 134th anniversary of the initiation of the Order by Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney.

March - April

When members of a Florida council wanted to show their devotion to the Order’s founder, they decided to place a statue of Father McGivney in the hall of the parish where they meet. Msgr. John M. McCall Council 4892 joined with Archbishop J.P. Hurley Assembly to conduct a raffle to raise funds for the 4-foot statue offered by the McGivney Guild.

January - February

Of the many families that have a great devotion to Venerable Father Michael McGivney, known as an Apostle of Christian Family Life, the Sullivans of Connecticut hold a special place.

2015

November - December

A new stained-glass window depicting Venerable Father Michael McGivney was blessed and dedicated Oct. 18 in St. Francis Xavier Church in Metairie, La., by Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans.

September - October

A t a Mass marking the 125th anniversary of the death of Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, Knights and families from throughout Connecticut gathered in St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, where the Order was founded in 1882.

May - June

Prayer has been and always will be a key factor in the Cause for Canonization of Venerable Father McGivney. As Guild members, we must remember that our prayers must take two forms.

March - April

The power of prayer is shown throughout sacred Scripture. From the words of Jesus to the letters of St. Paul, the centrality of prayer to the Christian life is demonstrated over and over.

January - February

The monumental statue of Father Michael McGivney that stands prominently in his hometown recently received a facelift. The bronze, 8-foot statue, resting upon a tall, polished granite pedestal in the busy downtown area of Waterbury, Conn., depicts Father McGivney holding a copy of the Gospels in his left arm, as he lifts his right hand toward heaven.