Parish Priest

Is now the time for an American parish priest to be declared a Catholic saint? Born and raised in a Connecticut factory town, the son of Irish immigrants, Father Michael McGivney's (1852-1890) legacy of hope is still celebrated around the world. At a time when discrimination against American Catholics, homelessness, and starvation were widespread, Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus, an organization that has helped save countless families from the indignity of destitution. In this moving and inspirational work, Douglas Brinkley, the New York Times bestselling author of The Great Deluge and The Boys of Pointe du Hoc, and award-winning author Julie M. Fenster re-create the all-too-brief life of perhaps the most beloved parish priest in U.S. history and chronicle the process of canonization that may well make this fiercely dynamic yet tenderhearted man the first American-born priest to be declared a saint by the Vatican.