Is now the time for an American parish priest to be
declared a Catholic saint?
In Father Michael McGivney (1852-1890), born and raised in a
Connecticut factory town, the modern era's ideal of the
priesthood hit its zenith. The son of Irish immigrants, he
was a man to whom "family values" represented more than mere
rhetoric. And he left a legacy of hope still celebrated
around the world.
In the late 1800s, discrimination against American Catholics
was widespread. Many Catholics struggled to find work and
ended up in infernolike mills. An injury or the death of the
wage earner would leave a family penniless. The grim threat
of chronic homelessness and even starvation could fast
become realities. Called to action in 1882 by his sympathy
for these suffering people, Father McGivney founded the
Knights of Columbus, an organization that has helped to save
countless families from the indignity of destitution. From
its uncertain beginnings, when Father McGivney was the only
person willing to work toward its success, it has grown to
an international membership of 1.7 million men.
At heart, though, Father McGivney was never anything more
than an American parish priest, and nothing less than that,
either -- beloved by children, trusted by young adults, and
regarded as a "positive saint" by the elderly in his New
Haven parish.
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