Blessed Michael McGivney Exhibit Opens in New York

Archdiocese hosts temporary exhibit celebrating the life and witness of Order's founder

A new exhibit about the founder of the Knights of Columbus has opened in New York City and will share the story of America’s newest blessed through March 29.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, joined Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly on March 6 for the opening of “An American Blessed” at the Sheen Center for Thought & Culture in Manhattan.

The exhibit includes a first-class relic of Father Michael McGivney for veneration, a gavel used at Knights’ meetings, period photographs, and highlights of the miraculous healing that led to Father McGivney’s beatification Oct. 31, 2020. A second miracle attributed to his intercession is needed for his canonization.

In opening remarks at an evening reception, Supreme Knight Kelly thanked the cardinal for hosting the exhibit and also for making space in St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a portrait of Father McGivney, which is seen by thousands of visitors each day.

“The Lord raises up saints for a particular reason at a particular time,” the supreme knight said of Father McGivney. “He was an ordinary parish priest who had come to do his job. He had a heart for his parishioners, and he saw the trouble that they were in. He saw families in crisis. He saw immigrants in crisis. He saw men who were struggling with addictions and alienation, and he said, ‘What am I going to do?’”

His solution, the supreme knight said, was to found the Knights of Columbus to help men and their families stay close to the Catholic faith and to provide benefits in the event of sickness or death.

Cardinal Dolan also praised Father McGivney, calling him a “meat and potatoes” priest who did not call attention to himself as he ministered to the spiritual and temporal needs of his mostly immigrant parishioners. He noted that the fruit of his work is seen especially in the Knights of Columbus, which has grown from its foundation in New Haven,

“What he started is now one of the great gifts to the church universal, and the Catholic Church in the United States,” said the cardinal, adding, “Where would we be without our beloved Knights?”

Cardinal Dolan ended his talk by blessing attendees with a first-class bone relic, while invoking the intercession of Blessed Michael McGivney.

The exhibit is open to the public at the Sheen Center until March 29, which is observed as Founder’s Day by the Knights of Columbus.

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BRIAN CAULFIELD is vice postulator of the cause for canonization of Blessed Michael McGivney.