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The Founder ofthe Knights of ColumbusFather Michael J. McGivney |
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.