KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
our parish council
Our parish has a local Knights Council (#9771), which in turn is part of the worldwide Knights of Columbus organization. This is a men’s fraternal organization which fosters pride and ownership in the church and the community. It sponsors a wide variety of parish activities, such as fish dinners during Lent, Pancake Breakfasts, the One Rose One Life Collection, the Tootsie Roll Drive to benefit Intellectual Disabilities, and the Parish Picnic.
Our Knights of Columbus Council #9771 was chartered on March 20, 1988. In a spirit of Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism, we resolve to promote and protect the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish and our Catholic faith, and to serve God by worshiping, evangelizing, educating and ministering to the needs of all.
To join our council, please contact Grand Knight Joey Rickard at 402-889-2668 or kofc9771@gmail.com.
You can also join online at www.kofc.org/get-involved/join-kofc/
BLESSED MICHAEL j. MCGIVNEY
When 29-year-old Father Michael McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882, he knew what hardships and pressures these husbands and fathers — mostly poor, immigrant Catholics — faced:
- A culture with deep mistrust of the Catholic community.
- Often dangerous working conditions.
- Membership organizations that promised social benefits and mutual aid but came with strong anti-Catholic biases.
- The burden of knowing that their death would likely leave their families penniless and at risk of being separated.
A child of immigrants, and a faithful son who had to leave seminary to help support his mother and siblings after his factory-employed father died, Father McGivney was intimately familiar with these realities. And so, as an assistant priest at St. Mary’s Church in the bustling port city of New Haven, Connecticut, he stepped into the breach to do something about it. Gathering men in his parish basement, Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus.
During the global flu pandemic of 1889-1890, Father McGivney was ministering among his people until his own weakening health confined him to bed, where he continued praying for his flock. He died on Aug. 14, 1890, two days after his 38th birthday.
