Celebrating Our 125th Anniversary

Celebrating Our 125th Anniversary
Thursday, Aug. 9th, 2007
Regular anniversaries like birthdays and weddings are usually celebrated for one day only. This one will last for one year. It is hard to imagine the U.S. Catholic Church without the Knights of Columbus.

The monthly issue of Columbia, March, 2007 has whole sections celebrating the 125 Years of Faith in Action 1882-2007. Father Michael J. McGivney was 29 years old when he founded the Knights in the basement of the St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Ct.

After the Order’s March 29, 1882 incorporation, he sent appeals for new members.
“Father McGivney has guided our Order for 125 years and will continue to do so for the years to come….
“As we celebrate our founding by a young and energetic parish priest, we must continue with even greater effort to develop our parish-based councils….
“This means also that we must encounter greater solidarity with our priests….
“Every parish priest should be welcomed into the Order, and every parish priest should see his local Knight of Columbus council as a strong partner in building up his parish community….” Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight, p. 3

“In this anniversary year, we celebrate how the Servant of God Father Michael J. McGivney built the Knights on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ….It was his holiness – his deep relationship of love with Jesus Christ. He was a truly holy parish priest who loved the Lord so much that he dedicated his every waking hour to prayer and to helping his parishioners grow in the likeness of Christ…. Without doubt, Father McGivney was ahead of his time. Long before the Second Vatican Council focused on the laity’s involvement in evangelizing culture and in strengthening the life of the Church.... Long before the contemporary assault on the family and unborn children, Father McGivney supported family life and the protection of the vulnerable….” Bishop William E. Lori, Supreme Chaplain, p. 4

“GROWING IN HOLINESS: In his message for the World Day of Prayer for Peace last Jan. 1. Pope Benedict XVI pleaded that 2007 be a year of peace. We must work each day to establish peace in our world, he said, ‘Peace is promoted by respecting the person.’… He (Father McGivney) was enlightened by the Holy Spirit to found a fraternal society for Catholic men that the same spirit would protect and guide into the 21st century and beyond….Father McGivney’s encounter with anti-Catholic bigotry and working men with destitute families touched him deeply…. Father McGivney’s foresight was a gift from God. He was enlightened by the Holy Spirit to found a fraternal society for Catholic men that the same Spirit would protect and guide into the 21st century and beyond…. Today, as much as in 1882, all of our activities are intended to affirm the dignity of the human person and the holiness of the family. Our imperative is to offer more Catholic men, and younger Catholic men, the spiritual richness that is ours as sons of Father McGivney.” Father Gabriel O’Donnell ,O.P.

Fraternally yours,
George H. Kubeck,