Fr. McGivney – Restored Photograph – Knights of Columbus Founder – 3 sizes – Catholic Art Print

Blessed Michael McGivneyRestored PhotographFather Michael McGivney is, as of this writing, a Blessed in the Church, with one attested miracle. The founder of the Knights of Columbus is on his way to soon being a Saint. Born in 1854 to Irish immigrant parents in Connecticut, he saw firsthand the hardships faced by the Catholics in their new country, not just the difficulties of being an immigrant, but the prejudice they faced as Catholics in a Protestant nation. He formed the Knights of Columbus as a fraternal organization to help families pull together, for Catholic widows to be provided for, and to help solidify the faith of immigrant Catholics so that they didn't slide away from their faith. The Knights today have two million members world-wide. St. John Paul II called them the "strong right arm" of the Church. People still turn to Fr. McGivney now, as they did when he was on Earth, to help them. Pope Francis said his "zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for