Roberto Crespo

University of Notre Dame

Sanctity and Society

April 11th, 2017

Michael McGivney: The Prospective New American Saint

Introduction

Father McGivney was a parish priest from the 1800’s that managed to create a positive

impact in the world. McGivney was a man of God that was loved by many. His presence was

definitely noticed during his time here at Earth. His followers are pushing through the

canonization of McGivney. His followers want to have him a Saint in order to demonstrate all

the positive work he gave and left. The process of canonization is a rigorous and difficult one

and it is no different for McGivney. Denominating someone as a saint is a very strong statement.

So in that way it is difficult to demonstrate why should McGivney be canonized. These progress

and difficulties of the canonization of Michael McGivney will be explored in this paper.

Biography

Patrick McGivney and Mary Lynch were Irish immigrants that came to the U.S. in the

19th century during one of the great waves of Irish migration. On the 12th of August of 1852,

Michael McGivney was born in Waterbury, Connecticut. Michael was known for being a well-

behaved kid who excelled in his studies. Michael had 12 siblings, six of whom perished in

childhood.1 This is one of the examples of the pain and grief associated with the McGivney

family. Irish families escaped Ireland because of lack of food and riches. Due to the lack of

1
Knights of Columbus, “The Life and Legacy of Father Michael J. McGivney.”
www.kofc.org/un/en/resources/members/programs/family-activities/2045-legacy-mcgivney-6-
08.pdf
skills, the Irish that came in the 19th century had no help and moved to the poor side of society.

The Irish immigrants looked for haven from their same genus.2 This affected the McGivney

family and shaped them to what they set out to do with their lives. The development of his life

would be led by these initial circumstances that he grew up with, seeking for a way to help those

who suffered what he experienced.

McGivney was only eight years old when the civil war started in 1861.3 The four-year

conflict instituted a harsh environment for McGivney to grow up in. The economical parameters

left after the war, that ended in 1865, created a boom in the American industry. Machines were

created that could produce product faster and in more quantities than human labor.

Industrialization made the industry sector be the most significant contributor to economical

growth in the country.4 This caused McGivney to go to work, being only 13 years old, producing

spoons in a factory. He worked in this factory from 1865 to 1868. After leaving the factory, he

travelled to Quebec, Canada accompanied by a pastor from his hometown. Once in Quebec, he

enrolled at the College of St. Hyacinth, with plans to prepare for seminary.

He went on to Our Lady of Angels seminary to study philosophy in 1871.

Simultaneously, he enrolled in the Niagara University to extend his studies. After, in 1873, he

went to Montreal and studied at Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal. Later that year in June,

Patrick McGivney died. Michael travelled back home for his father’s funeral. The bishop of

Hartford asked for him to enter in the St. Mary seminary located in Baltimore. After four years,

in 1877, McGivney was ordained in a Baltimore cathedral by the archbishop, at the time, James

2
History Place, “Irish Potato Famine, Gone to America.”
www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/america.htm
3
Knights of Columbus, “Life of Father McGivney”
4
USA online, “History of the United States Industrialization and Reform.”
www.theusaonline.com/history/industrialization.htm
Gibbons. Some days later, he delivered his first mass in the Immaculate Conception Church in

Waterbury.

Father McGivney started his priestly ministry on December 25,1877, as a curate at the St.

Mary church in New Haven, Connecticut.5 One of his duties was giving minister care to the

prisoners that were locked up in the city jail. The relationship McGivney had with one particular

inmate stood out from the rest. The name of the convict was James Smith. Smith shot and killed

a police officer and was declared guilty in 18881. Consequently he received a death sentence.

McGivney met with him constantly and developed a relation of trust and care. Smith meant a lot

for McGivney that when the time came for Smith to be executed he felt great sorrow. Smith told

him before facing his fate: “Father, your saintly administration has enabled me to meet death

without a tremor.”6 This interaction demonstrates just one example of how McGivney had a

positive effect on people and how much he meant to the people he got close with.

In 1881, McGivney was considering the idea of creating a Catholic fraternal society. He

wanted to create a society that could offer help while spreading faith faith simultaneously. The

ultimate goals of the fraternity were to fortify the Catholic religion, for people to be more

involved with it, and to help those in need. McGivney saw that he could fulfill the needs he saw

that were not being met. One of those needs was similar to the case of McGivney’s family. A lot

of families of immigrants were living in poor conditions and had no one to help them. The

society would offer monetary assistance to families that needed support. The other need that

McGivney wanted to correct was anti-catholicism.7 Due to the large migration of Irish, German,

5
Knights of Columbus, “Life of Father McGivney”
6
Wolfe, “Sainthood Quest for Knight of the Church.”
www.nytimes.com/2000/07/02/nyregion/sainthood-quest-for-knight-of-the-church.html
7
Knights of Columbus, “Life of Father McGivney”
Polish, and Italian Catholics to the United States. Protestants worried that the United States

would become a Catholic country. Protestants supported anti-catholicism up to an extent that

even organizations began to rise to encourage it.8 McGivney believed that through his society he

could fight anti-catholicism by promoting Catholicism. McGivney presented his idea to various

members that were in positions of power in the Roman Catholic religion. After receiving

approval and support for his intention, near the summer of 1882, McGivney started out his

society in the basement of the St. Mary’s Church. The settled name for the society was Knights

of Columbus.

The Knights of Columbus was recognized as a formal corporation by the Connecticut

legislature on March 29, 1882.9 Father McGivney chose the name Columbus because of how

Christopher Columbus opened Americans to Christianity. The society bears the name Columbus

to remember themselves about their Catholic roots in the New World.10 In 1884, Father

McGivney was appointed as the pastor of the St. Thomas Church located in Thomaston,

Connecticut. He spent six years as the principal minister for that church. Tow of his younger

brothers followed his example and went on to become priests.11

On August 14, 1890, Father Michael McGivney died after his health deteriorated by a

grave case of pneumonia. He was buried in land belonging to his family in his hometown. His

body was later moved in 1982 to St. Mary’s Church, where he started the knights of Columbus.12

Although McGivney died prematurely, at age 38, his actions did not go unnoticed. The people

8
Byrne, “Roman Catholics and Immigration in Nineteenth-Century America.”
9
Knights of Columbus, “Life of Father McGivney”
10
Knights of Columbus, “Christopher Columbus 500 Years Later.”
www.kofc.org/un/en/news/releases/71947.html
11
Knights of Columbus, “Life of Father McGivney”
12
Father McGivney, “Death.” www.fathermcgivney.org/mcg/en/life/history/death.html
that looked up to him saw him as a saintly figure, so they began the process of postulating him

for canonization.

What Does it Mean to be a Saint?

Saints are holy figures that are recognized by Christianity as so. These figures are people

that have lived a life devoted to God and to spreading his message. The people that get

recognized as Saints are people that, under the eye of the church, are in heaven. Being a Saint is

significant for two main reasons. One is the Christian significance and what the Saint means to

the religion. The other one is the social significance the saint has over the Christian followers.

The Christian significance plays a role principally in the entity of the Christian church. This

refers to how the saint represents the values of Christianity. A saint, as already mentioned, is

someone that has lived a life dedicated to being loyal to the path of righteousness. This path is

based according to what the religion considers it being so. This entails a life with minimum sin,

no temptation and the spreading of God’s work. By having always God in their heart, Saints are

considered that they lived a life that was very intimate with God. The Social aspect of the

significance is more based on the masses. A certain saint represents an idea. Each Saint

represents a different idea and that is one of the reasons why there are thousands of Saints.

Christian followers want to have saints that represent ideas closely related to their very own

ideas or situation.

Historically, the process for canonizing someone has changed significantly. Currently, a

person requires to have the following to be considered by the Vatican to be recognized as a saint.

The Vatican must consider that the prospect has lived life guided by God and has maintained

righteous. After this the prospective saint must have lived a life of heroic virtue so that the

candidate can be denominated as venerable by the Pope. Then, there must be a miracle attributed
to the intercession of the prospective saint to serve as a confirmation that he or she is indeed in

Heaven. If all of this is fulfilled then and only then will the Pope consider making a candidate a

Saint.

Socially, saints are instituted by the Church in order to show institute a figure that the

followers of the church can follow. The naming of a Saint is only a confirmation that the person

in question is within the grace of God. This means that that not everyone that is under the grace

of God is featured on earth as a Saint. This partially creates a problem to the people that want a

certain person to be canonized. Even though that certain person might be in the realm of Heaven

that is described in the Bible, that person might not have that recognition in earth. The

canonization process serves mainly to give guidance. Saints are role models in the sense of the

idea. The Christian people want to have these sorts of role models. Unfortunately, not all Saint

cover all areas that a certain person might need for a heavenly intercession. That is why more

and more propositions for Sainthood are being presented to the Vatican. People want to have

more gateways of communication to God. If a certain saint is specialized in an area, such as

Patron Saints serve a role to intervene with Christians to a definite purpose.

How does Father McGivney fits the role of a saint?

Analyzing the life of Father McGivney and the events that have occurred after his death,

it can be concluded the ways in which McGivney fits the role of a Saint. As already discussed

there are two main intentions or roles that candidates for sainthood must complete so that they

can be named saints. These are the Christian role and the social role. With these fulfilled and

relevant then a person can be deemed worthy of being canonized.

 First, let’s analyze the Christian role aspect of Father Michael McGivney’s life.

McGivney started out his Christian oriented life around the age of 15. This was the age he

enrolled in the preparatory courses for seminary. It is likely that before he joined he already had

an affection for Christianity and this was the age when he decided to take action on it. Although

he was born in a Catholic family, he seemed out religion by himself. This proves that McGivney

was Christian by his own wishes rather to the ones that could have been imposed by his family.

McGivney had to go through a lot of rumble to be a priest. The amount of work he did to arrive

to that position demonstrates a rigorous personality that incorporated God. An example of how

much time he dedicated to the work of God can be seen in one of his letters to Alphonse

Magnien. In this letter, McGivney wrote to Mangier saying:“I have been alone all summer with

the whole work of a parish on my shoulders. I have had no time for even one day’s vacation.”13

This serves as proof of how scrupulously devoted Michael McGivney was

The relationship he built with James Smith is yet another instance that serves to give

more insight into what McGivney was actually like. This interaction demonstrates song presence

of care, love, and mercy. McGivney came to built a relationship so strong that it was hard for

both of them when they had to part ways. It’s amusing how even though that Smith was

murderer did not stopped McGivney to want to build a connection with him. He believed in

forgiveness and this is demonstrated in the fact that he did not felt hesitation to try to help this

man.

McGivney then went on to fond the Knights of Columbus. This institution fights off anti-

Catholicism while helping those in need. This demonstrates that McGivney was a giver and

selfless individual. Michael McGivney was a righteous, caring, merciful and unselfish

13
Michael Mcgivney to Alphonse Magnien, October 21, 1878, in Parish Priest, ed. Douglas
Brinkley, Julie M. Fenster (New York: HaperCollins Publishers, 2006), 75
philanthropist. All of these characteristics are idiosyncratic to someone that lives a life based

around God. Father McGivney had God in mind for his beliefs, proclamations, and actions.

McGivney spreader the word of God here on Earth and expanded his kingdom wherever he

could. All of these qualities serve as proof that Father Michael McGivney was indeed a servant

of God.

Although people are name saints mostly based on the devoted lives they had towards

Christianity, it is not enough for someone to get pushed into canonization. First there must be a

demand. Without no demand, then a motion will never get enough traction for it to be noticed by

the Vatican. If the demand is not there then people would not push documents, instances of

possible miracles nor information about the life of the subject for there to be enough data to act

upon it. The lack of demand indicates that that person was not significant enough for it to be left

avoid within the people that he or she was close with. If a person was not that significant is

because he or she did not left an impact. Then the question rises: Why would the Vatican name a

saint that did not leave an impact? That is right, the Vatican does not name saints to people that

do not leave a presence behind. A property of saints is that they serve as a role models for

society. Christians want to have people that have impacted positively the religion as saints so that

they are kept in remembrance and that their idea can keep inspiring. People want to have

someone to look at when they are facing a certain situation, whatever that may be.

Father Michael McGivney has a special social role that can fit certain desires of groups of

targeted Christians. Targeting the social aspect that the canonization of Father McGivney can

bring to the table is rather difficult to pin down. The social aspect requires some uniqueness for

the saint. People need a reason to pray for him or a reason to remember him. If the saint does not

bring anything exclusive to him is difficult for people to be attached to it. Patron saints are saints
that have been designated by the Vatican to intercede for a certain set of situations. They have

been attributed as the ones to go to if Catholic follower needs help in the certain area that the

saint is appointed to. This certain areas are placed to a saint according to their life and their

virtues. McGivney has various attributes that could throw him into one field or another.

Taking a look at McGivney’s life, the conclusion is that he would be a perfect patron

saint against anti-catholicism. This conclusion is arrived on the fact that this was a big part of his

intention while creating the Knights of Columbus. Even more so, there is not yet a patron saint

that fits this description. Taking a look at other aspects of McGivney´s life leads nowhere

regarding patronage. The other main factor of his life that can be noted into consideration is how

he cared and protected immigrants. This was the other reason he founded the knights of

Columbus. Saint Mother Frances Cabrini is currently the patron saint of immigrants. Although it

would be good fit for McGivney, if he were to become a saint, to be the patron saint for

immigrants someone already has this position filled up. Another sort of idea that it is traceable

from his life is that he was known for his love towards children.14 Although this does not

symbolize as strongly as the other two, it would still be a valid option for being ht patron of. The

unfortunate thing lies on the fact that there is already a patron saint for children. Saint Nicholas

and Saint Pancras are recognized as the patron saints of children. This becomes yet another

position that it would not be wise to take to propose the saint. The optimal way of presenting him

is as a possible saint who is a fighter against anti-catholicism.

A very significant attribute that the canonization of Father McGivney is that he would be

the first American-born man to become a saint. This is important because having an American-

born saint represents so much for the United States. This canonization will allude to the

14
Dominican Nuns, Apostle for the 21st Century (Guilford: The Father McGivney Guild, 1998)
country’s nationalism. The nationalism that focuses so much on the American dream. McGivney

represents the idea of the American dream. He came from a foreign land with extremely low

resources. He manages to surpass those harsh initial conditions and succeed. Although

McGivney’s success is not as in the traditional sense one which entails jumping upwards in

socioeconomic levels. McGivney’s success is measured in how he managed to do so much with

yet so little. He founded the Knights of Columbus which is currently the world’s largest Catholic

fraternal service organization. 15 This clearly demonstrates a path from struggle to someone who

will be remembered.

Where is Michael McGivney in the process of Canonization?

After 16 years of the death of Father Michael McGivney, the process for his canonization

began. The first entity to take action was the Knights of Columbus Supreme Council. The

Council insisted the archbishop of the Hartford Diocese, Daniel Cronin, to take action. He

declared McGivney to be a “Servant of God”, meaning that he was in the clear for initiating the

process of canonization. The Bishop appointed Gabriel O’Donnell, a dominican father, as the

postulator for this cause.16 As the postulator, O’Donnell had a responsibility of compiling the

details of the virtues that Mcgivney had lived by, his deeds and his writings. He had to put

McGivney’s life into record. This process took O’Donnell 3 years to complete. The document

titled Acts was finished in 2000 and ended up being 700 pages long. Proximately, Acts was

presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican approved the initial proposal to

begin the process. The Congregation assigned a relator to McGivney’s cause. A role of a relator

15
16
Father McGivney, “Chronology.”
http://www.fathermcgivney.org/mcg/en/life/timeline/index.html
is to oversee the cause and to make sure that the positio is in order. The relator selected for the

cause was Father Ambrose Eszer17. O’Donnell spent two years in Rome writing the position for

McGivney18. In 2002, the completed positio was submitted to the Congregation. The positio

made the argument that Father McGivney lived a life of heroic virtue. This was reviewed by the

vatican and the resulting opinions were favorable to the cause.

On March 15, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI approved that Father McGivney had a life of

heroic virtue. The pope proclaimed McGivney as venerable. Now the cause for the now known

as the Venerable Michael McGivney faces its biggest stretch: proving the intercession of God

through him or miracles. The Knights of Columbus receive various accounts of miracles, but the

ones that could possible function as a valid miracle are very few. One instance of a reported

intercession was that of McGivney’s grandnephew, John Walshe. He was diagnosed with

prostate cancer. Walshe prayed for the help of McGivney before his operation. After he was

operated, the cancer was gone. This reported intercession is hard to denominate as a miracle,

because he was operated and the cure make sense medically. Also the fact that he probably is

bias towards the canonization of McGivney, given that he is his grandnephew, discards the

validity of it. Likewise, another reported intercession that could be discarded because there could

be scientific explanation behind it and is also bias is the case of Father Allen. Allen is a friar that

gives mass in St. Mary’s Church. Allen was also diagnosed with cancer. He prayed to McGivney

and got cured, but no correlation could be attributed. Allen had a relationship with Mcgivney

before he passed, so this creates an bias environment that takes validity from the report. These

17
Douglas Brinkley, Julie M. Fenster, Parish Priest (New York: HaperCollins Publishers, 2006),
206-207
18
Edward Columbia, “The Real-Life Miracles of Father
Mcgivney,http://www.thenewjournalatyale.com/2015/01/the-real-life-miracles-of-father-
mcgivney/, April 9th, 2017
accounts were never presented to the Vatican as the Knights of Columbus and O’Donnell did not

feel that they followed the parameters of the Vatican of a miracle.

After a while, O’Donnell came across a reported miracle that could pass the Vatican

standards. He compiled all the information on the reported miracle. He included all the medical

tests, diagnosis and takes that doctors had on the case on a positio. To the eyes of O’Donnell,

science and logic did not play a role in the healing. The position moved to the Consulta Medica.

This is a panel of doctors that basically take a look at the positio and at the case and they arrive

at a conclusion on wether there is a scientific explanation behind it or not. After a few years, the

Consulta Medica could not call what occurred a miracle. They said that the medical data was not

thorough. This placed the cause to stay fixed for a while until another report came along.

The postulator tittle of the cause was removed from O’Donnell and given to Andrea

Ambrosi. A second miracle that could potentially meet the Vatican’s definition of a miracle was

presented in a positio to the Vatican by the Ambrosi administration.19 Details of an alleged

miracle are kept hidden from the public during the process of evaluation. This report is still being

investigated by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints; therefore, information regarding the

miracle are not known. If this reported miracle were to be declared a true miracle, McGivney

would be beatified.

Being beatified gives a subject the tittle of blessed. If Michael McGivney were to become

beatified, he would be one step away from becoming a saint. He would be missing another

miracle and then and only then could he be canonized. If all of this comes to be, Father Michael

19
Bernard David, “Another Possible Miracle Under Review In Cause To Make Knights' Founder
A Saint,” http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-father-michael-mcgivney-sainthood-
0804-20130802-story.html, April 10 2017
McGivney could be called a saint. The canonization process can take a lot of time, so who knows

if during this lifetime Father McGivney will be called a saint.

Conclusion

Today, the legacy of McGivney is seen in the society he built and in the way people look

up to him. Various statues and monuments have been made in his image. Roads, buildings,

university halls, and even a high school bear his name to carry out his presence. (REFERENCE

THIS) Without question, McGivney’s greatest achievement was creating the Knights of

Columbus. The fraternal society in the present is responsible for multiple accounts of charitable

work. In 2015 alone. the charitable donations were over 175 million dollars and attributed more

than 73.5 million hours of service. (REFERENCE THIS) The society has maintained true to its

roots and intentions. The Knights of Columbus still focuses on fighting anti-catholicism, an

example of this is how in their website they have advertisement saying how the numbers of

Christians has decreased immensely in the middle east. Also, the society has community

programs that seek to help those in need. The entity has programs such as Food for Families and

Coats for Kids (REFERENCE THIS). The society serves as the legacy of Michael McGivney

and what he stood for.

After deep analysis of the case, it seems as if the cause for Michael McGivney’s

canonization is likely to happen. Father McGivney clearly lived a saintly life. McGivney’s

following is heavily felt. Looking at the non-religious side of sainthood, he would be a perfect

candidate as he is definitely a role model. On the religious aspect of McGivney, the miracles are

the only things that are holding him back. Up until two miracles made through the intercession of

McGivney are accepted he would not become a saint. The canonization serves as a manner of

keeping the memory and ideas of the saint alive through time. The canonization of a a person
keeps them alive in the sense that they are not forgotten. Through the canonization of Father

Mcgivney his ideas will continue to be pushed unto new generations.