Beatification of Fr. Michael McGivney

In case you missed it, the cause for the canonization of our Order’s founder, Fr. Michael McGivney, a priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, reached its penultimate milestone with his beatification on October 31, 2020.

The official declaration of Fr. McGivney as “blessed” took place at a beatification mass in Hartford’s St. Joseph Cathedral. The principal celebrant of the mass as representative of the Holy Father was Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, with extensive participation by members of the Knights of Columbus, including the Most Reverenced William Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore, Supreme Chaplain, and Carl Anderson, then Supreme Knight.

Blessed Michael McGivney has been assigned a liturgical memorial day of August 13, the day between the anniversary of birth, August 12, and his death, August 14.

The step of beatification required the recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Fr. McGivney. On May 26, 2020, Pope Francis authorized the publication of a decree recognizing our Founder as having miraculously interceded on behalf of Mikey Schachle, the son of Michelle and Daniel Schachle, a Knights of Columbus insurance agent in Tennessee. Before Mikey was born, he was diagnosed with Down syndrome as well as a rare condition that doctors said would “take his life shortly after birth.” After his parents and others began praying through Fr.  McGivney’s intercession, Mikey was cured, and his parents named him Michael McGivney Schachle. Mikey, five years old at the time, participated in the beatification mass.

Further information about Fr. McGivney and his beatification can be found at the Supreme website, http://kofc.org/en/events/father-mcgivney-beatification/index.html.