Fr. McGivney named "Venerable Servant of God"

I was just reading the May 2008 issue of "Columbia" magazine, and learned that Fr. Michael McGivney has passed the first step en route to sainthood. This comes 10 years after his cause for canonization began in October 1997.

Fr. Michael McGivney (1852-1890) was the founder of the Knights of Columbus. For those of you who haven't done so, I would encourage you to read Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism by Douglas Brinkley and Julie Fenster. It is a wonderful story of Fr. McGivney's life as well as a look at American Catholicism at that time.

The title "venerable" means that Fr. McGivney can be held up as a role model of what it means to live a Christian life.