Hartford, Conn., Aug 4, 2021 / 15:10 pm
Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, on Wednesday highlighted the similarities between St. John Vianney and Blessed Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights.
He made the comparison during his homily at a Mass concluding the fraternal organization’s annual convention Aug. 4.
The Knights of Columbus, the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization, has over 2 million members in 16,000 councils worldwide. The order was founded in 1882 by McGivney, a Connecticut parish priest. Initially, the organization was intended to assist widows and their families upon the deaths of their husbands.
The feast of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, is celebrated Aug. 4 in the ordinary form of the Roman rite. Vianney’s pastoral care, especially his willingness to spend hours each day in the confessional, ultimately meant his parish was thriving by the time he died, Archbishop Lori noted.