Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism (review)

McGivney was one of the first names I ever heard. John J. McGivney, who was the younger brother of the famed founder of the Knights of Columbus, happened to be my pastor in St. Charles Parish, Bridgeport, Connecticut. Our family treasured a snapshot of Monsignor John surrounded by a small circle of costumed girls who had been chosen to present him bouquets at an anniversary celebration. The family legend was that the fatherly priest had apparently noticed my beautiful sister—one of the flower-bearers—and had spontaneously lifted her upon his shoulders. When I began to study the Church in Connecticut, I often thought back to that heartwarming episode. Now, however, it is his elder brother who has captured my attention, as well as that of other historians.

Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism is about John's sibling, who died over forty years prior to this celebration. Michael, who served the Diocese of Hartford in New Haven, Thomaston, and Terryville for only thirteen years in toto, might have been quickly forgotten like so many other great nineteenth-century pioneer priests. But Michael's stellar achievement—the establishment of the Knights of Columbus—ensured his lasting fame and made his organizational feat the central focus of much study and acclaim.

One might have thought that Douglas Brinkley and Julie M. Fenster, authors of Parish Priest, would have dwelt upon Michael McGivney's ingenious creation of the Knights in their brief, extremely well written biography. Instead, they have chosen to concentrate upon Father McGivney's unassuming Irish-American style of priestly service as their focus. In the process, they have brought to our attention important characteristics that made McGivney not only memorable but eminently worthy of our respect. Here was a man, they tell us, whose main desire was not so much to build a self-help organization that later assisted millions of Catholics as it was to provide solid, spiritual support to the struggling immigrants of his New Haven parish. If attention today has often centered on the negative publicity surrounding a few errant clergy, the authors have decided instead to emphasize only one reality: that Michael McGivney was a priest who clearly understood that his vocation was simply that of being shepherd.

To accomplish their aim, the co-authors clearly spent much time combing the archival materials that have been carefully gathered and preserved at the international headquarters of the Knights in New Haven. From newsy tidbits that they found in local papers to items published in the state's Connecticut Catholic, they have reconstructed a refreshing view that gives us a glimpse of a humble, parish priest. Through their meticulous work, we are introduced to a priest who labored quietly in the shadows of Yale's tower of learning and amidst a bustling business enterprise wholly led by a Yankee elite. As the curate at St. Mary's, he used his unremarkable position to strengthen his people spiritually and socially so that they could sense their true belonging within this unfriendly Protestant environment.

From these sources in particular, we are able to see Father McGivney in a new, more pastoral, light. They show how the young priest motivated his immigrant congregants, quietly encouraging them to expect that they, too, could fulfill the American dream. He especially guided the youth to find their place by directing dramatic productions, organizing team sports—especially baseball—and becoming involved in parish festivals, picnics, and dances. He clearly wanted Catholics of all ages to realize that they also belonged to the multicultural, entrepreneurial society that was rapidly developing around them.

Throughout their brief study, Brinkley and Fenster take pains to demonstrate how Father McGivney's commitment to each member of his parish was particularly notable. Using oral histories and court testimonies, for example, they illustrate the ways in which he demonstrated his interest in those in need. In fact, they begin their study by introducing us...