Father Michael J. McGivney (August 12, 1852 - August 14, 1890) was a Roman Catholic priest and founder of the Knights of Columbus.
Father McGivney entered St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland in 1873, and was ordained a priest in 1877. On February 2, 1882, while an assistant pastor at Saint Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut, McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus with a small group of parishiners. McGivney died in 1890, at the age of 38.
In 1996, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford opened an investigation into Father McGivney's life, with a stated goal of his beatification and canonization, or membership in the sainthood. The diocesan investigation was closed in 2000, and the case was passed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Holy See.
In honour of him, the York Catholic District School Board in Ontario, Canada has founded a school named Father Michael Mcgivney Catholic Academy in 1989. It is located in Markham and currently houses 1100 students.
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