Founder of The Knights of Columbus Will Be Beatified in October

Last week, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints announced the beatification of the Knights of Columbus founder Father Michael McGivney will take place later this year on the 31st of October.

The Congregation made the announcement on their official website and twitter on July 20th:

A causa del protrarsi della situazione di #emergenza sono state rinviate le #Beatificazioni di Benigna #Cardoso da Silva, prevista per il 21 ottobre e di Giuseppe #Ambrosoli, prevista per il 22 novembre. Scelta la data del 31 ottobre per la Beatificazione di p. Michael #McGivney pic.twitter.com/pSHWcdxErQ

— Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi (@CauseSanti) July 20, 2020

McGivney’s upcoming beatification comes after a miracle attributed his intercession was accepted by the Holy See and announced by Pope Francis exactly two months ago on May 27th.

The miracle involves the recovery of a terminally ill child in the womb, diagnosed with Down syndrome and fetal hydrops – a condition where fluid builds around organs in the body.

“The doctor that ran the neonatal high risk clinic at Vanderbilt University told us that she had been doing this for 30 years and she had never seen a child survive the diagnosis.”

Future-Blessed Father Michael McGivney’s beatification is expected to take place at his home diocese in Connecticut.

Read his biography from the Knights of Columbus below:

Born of Irish immigrant parents in 1852 in Waterbury, Connecticut, Father McGivney was a central figure in the dramatic growth of the Church in the United States in the late 19th century. Ordained in Baltimore in 1877, he ministered to a heavily Irish-American and immigrant community in the then-Diocese of Hartford. At a time of anti-Catholic sentiment, he worked tirelessly to keep his flock close to the faith in part by finding practical solutions to their many problems – spiritual and temporal alike. With a group of the leading Catholic men of New Haven, he founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882 at St. Mary’s Church to provide spiritual support for Catholic men and financial resources for families that had suffered the loss of their breadwinner.

The fledgling group soon became a major force in the areas of evangelization, charity, racial integration, and the defense of religious freedom.

Father McGivney spent his entire priesthood in parish ministry and died of pneumonia on August 14, 1890— two days after his 38th birthday – after falling ill amid a pandemic. Recent scientific evidence indicates that that pandemic – like the current one – may have been caused by a coronavirus.

Known by his contemporaries for his devotion to the faith and his embodiment of the characteristics of the “Good Samaritan,” his cause for sainthood was opened in the Archdiocese of Hartford in 1997. St. John Paul II – who was pope at that time – lauded Father McGivney’s principles, stating in 2003, “In fidelity to the vision of Father McGivney, may you continue to seek new ways of being a leaven of the Gospel in the world and a spiritual force for the renewal of the Church in holiness, unity and truth.”

In March 2008, he was declared a Venerable Servant of God by Pope Benedict XVI, who during his visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral cited the “remarkable accomplishment of that exemplary American priest, the Venerable Michael McGivney, whose vision and zeal led to the establishment of the Knights of Columbus.”