 father michael joseph mcgivney (august 12, 1852 â august 14, 1890) was a roman catholic priest and founder of the knights of columbus, a catholic fraternal service organization. in march 2008, pope benedict xvi declared fr. mcgivney "venerable".knights of columbus founder declared venerable zenit.org ==early life== michael j. mcgivney was born to irish immigrants, patrick and mary (lynch) mcgivney on aug. 12, 1852. he was the eldest of 13 children, six of whom died in infancy or childhood. his father worked as a molder in a waterbury, conn. brass mill. michael mcgivney attended the local waterbury district school, but left at the age of thirteen to work in the spoon making department of one of the brass mills."early years", the venerable michael j. mcgivney, philippine edition ==studies== at the age of sixteen michael mcgivney entered sÃ©minaire de saint-hyacinthe in saint-hyacinthe, quebec, canada, in 1868. he continued his studies at our lady of angels seminary in niagara falls, ny (1871â1872) and at the jesuit's st. mary's college in montreal, but had to leave the seminary and return home to help finish raising his siblings, due to the death of his father in june 1873. he later resumed his studies at st.mary's seminary in baltimore, maryland and was ordained a priest on december 22, 1877, by archbishop james gibbons at the baltimore cathedral of the assumption. mcgivney died from pneumonia on the eve of the assumption in 1890, when he was thirty-eight years old. thumb|michael j mcgivney ==founding of the knights of columbus== from his own experience as a member of the immigrant community, he saw first hand the devastating effect on families of the untimely death of the father and wage earner. on march 29, 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 parishioners,"father michael mcgivney", connecticut public broadcasting network to help streng
1852_births 1890_deaths 19th-century_venerated_Christians American_Roman_Catholic_priests American_people_of_Irish_descent Deaths_from_tuberculosis Infectious_disease_deaths_in_Connecticut Knights_of_Columbus_people Niagara_University_alumni People_from_Connecticut St._Mary\'s_Seminary_and_University_alumni Venerated_Catholics