Inaugural Episode of the “McGivney Series”

The nation’s first Roman Catholic seminary launched a new virtual discussion series on Thursday, November 12, 2020 to highlight the timeless pastoral qualities of St. Mary’s Seminary and University alumnus and founder of the Knights of Columbus Venerable Michael J. McGivney – who was beatified on October 31, 2020 in New Haven, Connecticut. Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father Michael McGivney this past May, clearing the way for his beatification which is the final step before canonization.

This first segment of the “The McGivney Series,” aimed at exploring the essential qualifications and qualities of effective priestly ministry in the 21st century, and included a panel discussion featuring Archbishop William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, Mr. Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, and moderator, the Reverend Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S., President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University.

During his lifetime, Fr. McGivney demonstrated uncommon pastoral zeal, Christ-like humility, care and compassion for others, and an uncompromising commitment to the largely immigrant community he served as a parish priest in New Haven, CT, exemplifying the kind of priestly formation that the Sulpician tradition makes possible and which he received at St. Mary’s during the four years he attended as a member of the Class of 1877.

“Though serving in the nineteenth century, Father McGivney demonstrated the same essential qualities needed for effective priestly ministry in the 21st century: faithfulness, Christ-like humility, zeal for the well-being, and especially the spiritual welfare of his parishioners and others, in particular those who are most vulnerable, and dedicated service,” said Fr. Phillip Brown, P.S.S. “We take great pride in Fr. McGivney’s acknowledgement that his years of formation at St. Mary’s in the Sulpician tradition served as a defining influence in nurturing his vocation and in his life-long commitment to serve others as a parish priest.”

The focus of his first segment of the McGivney Series was “Who Was Michael McGivney and What Does He Have to Say to Us Today?”