Shining light on Knights

By Tony Staley
Compass Editor

Anyone interested in learning about the founder of the Knights of Columbus and why the organization was needed will find the answers in Parish Priest by Douglas Brinkley and Julie Fenster. Parish Priest, which earned rave reviews after its publication last year by William Morrow, was recently released in softcover by Harper Perennial.

Brinkley and Fenster weave into their biography of Fr. Michael McGivney a look at Irish Catholic immigrant life in mid-to-late 19th century Connecticut and how that inspired Fr. McGivney to start the Knights of Columbus.

The Irish faced many problems, including discrimination; strong anti-immigrant sentiment; hard work at low-paying and often dangerous jobs that sometimes led to accidental deaths, which left widows with large families and no income; high alcoholism; and the temptation to join secret fraternal societies in violation of church teaching.

But those weren't the only problems. In 1878, months after Fr. McGivney's ordination, he noted that few young men were attending Mass because they were bored with the church (p. 67). By the 1880s Fr. McGivney was working to solve the problems he saw, including: The loneliness of displaced populations; the changing role of the family caused by technological advances that weakened group identity; and a tendency to judge self-worth purely on a monetary basis (pp. 103-104).

His solution was to start an independent organization controlled not by priests - as was the norm - but by the laity (p. 108). He allowed the men to set it up in ways that did not appeal to him, including the ritualistic elements, the "Knights" name and titles of officers (pp. 119-20), and he didn't cling to power (pp. 200-202).

Like too many overworked priests of that era, Fr. McGivney died young - age 38. But the Knights live on, with more than 13,000 councils and 1.7 million members in 13 countries, who in 2006 gave more than $143.8 million and 68 million volunteer hours to charities.

Parish Priest shows why the Knights were necessary and explains their struggles in the early years.