Blessed Michael McGivney (Giclée Print on Panel) by Terry Waldron
Open edition signed giclée print on panel - 24 1/4 in x 12 in
Father Michael J. McGivney was a central figure in the growth of Catholicism in America, and he remains a model today. His example of charity, evangelization and empowerment of the laity continues to guide Knights of Columbus around the world.
As a parish priest, his primary concern was for the welfare of the largely Irish-American and immigrant Catholic population in New Haven, CT where he began his ministry at St. Mary’s Church in 1878. It was a time when Catholics were especially vulnerable. Many employers had a policy of “Irish Need Not Apply.” Immigrants often had to take the most dangerous positions in the mines, on the railroads, and in the factories. Accidents, disease and overwork led too often to the family’s breadwinner suffering an early death, leaving his wife and children destitute, with no social safety nets.
Father McGivney had lived through hard times himself as the eldest of 13 children, six of whom died young. After finishing elementary school, he joined his father in the factory for three years; an experience that formed in him a deep solidarity with working men and their families. He knew firsthand the hardship caused by the death of a breadwinner; when his father died in 1873, young Michael left the seminary to support his family before returning to complete his studies.
These experiences viewed through the lens of faith, shaped the man who, a little more than four years after being assigned as an assistant priest to St. Mary's, founded the Knights of Columbus; an association dedicated to meeting the spiritual and temporal needs of families.
