Parish Priest.PARISH PRIEST Parish priest may refer to
The subject of this well-written social priest history, Father Michael McGivney (1852-1890), the Connecticut priest who founded the Knights of Columbus Knights of Columbus, American Roman Catholic society for men, founded (1882) at New Haven, Conn. (where its headquarters are still located), by Father Michael J. McGivney. , is the first American-born parish to be considered for canonization canonization (kăn'ənĭzā`shən), in the Roman Catholic Church, process by which a person is classified as a saint. It is now performed at Rome alone, although in the Middle Ages and earlier bishops elsewhere used to canonize. . The book is aptly titled because McGivney was primarily a parish priest, a shepherd who "brought the same manner to all human souls" Ordained or·dain tr.v. or·dained, or·dain·ing, or·dains 1. a. To invest with ministerial or priestly authority; confer holy orders on. b. To authorize as a rabbi. 2. when European immigrants faced anti-Catholic prejudice, McGivney and others recognized that "the church would have to blend into American life and cater to its particular insecurities." These pragmatic men--pastors and activists rather than theologians or intellectuals-drew the first outlines of a distinctly American Catholicism. Parish Priest explains McGivney's seminary formation but would have benefitted from an explicit consideration of spiritual and theological influences on his thought. Instead, the authors, specialists in American history, highlight the social and economic reality of the Gilded Age Gilded Age The years between the Civil War and World War I when institutions undertook financial manipulations that went virtually unchecked by government. This era produced many infamous activities in the security markets. . McGivney created the Knights as a benevolent society for Catholic working-class men. His vision was both practical--"formed upon purely business principles" the Knights provided insurance payments to widows and orphans--and pastoral: The group created an attractive alternative to the popular secret societies and lodges that could weaken a man's Catholic identity. His concern for the poor isn't unusual for a Catholic priest. What is unusual is how he responded to their needs: entering the secular arena, empowering laymen, and tempering his organizational gifts with asceticism asceticism (əsĕt`ĭsĭzəm), rejection of bodily pleasures through sustained self-denial and self-mortification, with the objective of strengthening spiritual life. and humility. His ministry prefigured a contemporary model of priesthood: engagement with the world, ecumenical sensitivity, cooperation with laity. His life was fruitful not because of these accomplishments but because of fidelity to his vocation, through which was formed the capacious ca·pa·cious adj. Capable of containing a large quantity; spacious or roomy. See Synonyms at spacious. [From Latin cap soul of a parish priest. |
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