Parish Priest audiobook

In the latter part of the 1800s, an anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant attitude prevailed in America. In the midst of this setting in Connecticut was a young, caring Catholic priest. His concern for widows and orphans led him to form a fraternal organization of Catholic men to aid widows and orphans. This is the story of Father McGivney's short life and the beginning of the Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic organization today. Father McGivney is undergoing the path to be declared a saint. In this day and age of wayward religious, it is good to read about a priest or other religious from any faith who tried to walk in Christ's footsteps.

This book does a great job of laying out the life of a parish priest in America. It also gives a lot of great information about the founding of the Knights of Columbus which is a Catholic fraternal order focused on charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism that supports church and family.Highly recommended.

“His life, however, was not described by great occasions or grand gestures. His was the humility of moments, and the power beheld in the lightest of touches” (202). These lines at the end of this great book describe the life of Father Michael McGivney but may make some wonder why there is a biography of him. McGivney is the founder of the Knights of Columbus, a group for men in the Catholic Church which today numbers nearly 2 million men. But the authors don’t focus so much on that aspect as they use McGivney as an example of American Catholicism in the 19th century. More importantly, they give us insight in the role of the parish priest.They bring alive the Connecticut atmosphere and connect it with the overall status of priests at the time to give a sense of what life would be like for these servants of God. While it makes no claims to be an overview of all American Catholicism during that time period, the book shows what it was like in the established East Coast and, surprisingly, recognizes the demands that parish priests face today.McGivney becomes a priest after some of the more violent actions toward Catholics have subsided in the U.S., but prejudice against him because of his faith is something he shares with all his parishioners. In addition, we see how the Irish Catholics supplement the shortage of priests by importing priests from their homeland. McGivney is American born and goes through an educational process similar to today when a diocese directs their future priests to certain seminaries. It is this mix of Irish priests trying to connect with a more diverse parish that pushes McGivney from a quiet priest to one determined to meet people where they live. Before this priests were expected to spend most of their time on church grounds, but McGivney and others realize they need to reach out to people.Right out of seminary he is put into a church with an ailing head priest and a mountain of debt, which he works at reducing but will never fully succeed at doing. The ailing priest is not an old priest, just another worn-out priest. The authors note that over a 12-year span the Hartford diocese had 83 priests. During the same time, 70 priests died, creating an 85% turnover rate. Why? While priests were exposed to more disease than most, they were also greatly overworked and had little, if any, time off. The authors note that most priests knew they would not live to be 50 years old, but to be fair we have to realize the average lifespan at that time was around 42 years. McGivney had just turned 38 when he died. Yet in the midst of all that, McGivney started yet another project with the Knights of Columbus.Men’s groups were very popular during this time and many of them contributed funds in an early version of life insurance for widows and children. McGivney saw that many Catholic men were becoming more involved in these groups than the church, so he created the Knights as a way to offer a group that followed Catholic teaching yet created the same benefits for its members. In this, he was more successful than he would ever realize. Here I would like the authors to spend more time on this history because what is presented is so negative it is a surprise the Knights survived. Clearly, we are missing something.There is now an official process underway for McGivney to be considered for sainthood. Since the book was published in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI declared McGivney “Venerable” in 2008. Catholics may now seek his intercession in prayers and if a miracle is attributed to him, he moves on to be called “Blessed.” This can be a long process, but if it occurs he would be the first American-born parish priest to be canonized.Whether he is canonized or not (and the book takes no stand on that) McGivney is a priest worth reading about and this book is an excellent look into his life and American Catholicism in the late 19th century. If you are interested, you can visit the Knights of Columbus site to learn more about the group McGivney founded.

A good book that I think did well to try to be fair and balanced look at who may be the first Parish Priest to become a Saint. returnreturnI see the struggle of American Catholics, that was somewhat different from what I pictured from articles in the Columbia magazine. returnreturnIt interesting to see how fraternal organizations as a whole were so popular in the late 19th century, and its amazing that one so unloved then as the K of C has been one to survive. returnreturnI liked reading of the "Total Abstance" societies and the ideas that youngsters going somewhere unsupervised was a totally calcimining in a city as big as New Haven in the 1880s. returnreturnYet what I took away most from this writing was that we aren't doing that bad. I learn the K of C almost collapsed during its first year to to infighting, I'm no so worried that Greg thinks we all need to be doing things his way. The Knights of Columbus provided a place for the Catholic man to be able to have some fun and make a difference, without having to give up Alcohol 100%. It left us a way to provide for our children that was needed then, and not overly difficult now. I find the hall council to be more in line than the Parish council, and Father McGivney a man after my own heart. I can't imagine passing away at the ripe old age of 38 not being uncommon for his line of work in that day, now if our priest is under 40 half the parishioners fail to listen to him. returnreturnBlessed Michael McGivney, pray for us. And thank you for a fraternal organization where I belong, and a book that wasn't as exciting as it could have been, but may have been as exciting as you'd let it be :-)

This was a well written account of the life of Father Michael McGivney using limited documentation. The bio information was sparse and the authors filled in with the history of the Catholic Church in Connecticut and New England in general. The founding of the Knights of Columbus was covered well as it is essential to the ongoing legacy of the life of Father McGivney. If you have an expectation of a full biography you will be disappointed. If you temper your expectations to a more general coverage of Father McGivney and Catholicism in Connecticut, you will be pleased. A bit more on the expansion of the Knights of Columbus and Father McGivney's shadow role would have been welcome, although with limited documentation to validate it, it would have been conjecture.

Father Michael McGivney was a revolutionary priest. Douglas Brinkley wrote an excellent biography and it was a pleasure to read. The book was quick read, and I enjoyed every section. I was astounded by the work of the Irish Catholics and their contribution to American Catholicism in the 1850s. If you are Irish and Catholic, I think you would be surprised of how much of a legacy your history has in America. Overall, I rank the book 4 out of 5 and it should take a great reader about 4 days to ready it.

I don't care for non-fiction books often but as a Knights of Columbus I felt compelled to read a book about our founder. Like the story of the saints this book tells of the man the literally worked himself to death. He exemplified strong Catholic values, which lives on in the order he founded. Overall I find myself rereading this book yearly to remember the lessons Fr. McGivney thought throughout his life and for which his order of the Knights of Columbus still stand for today.

Very good. I read this because Douglas Brinkley decided that it was a subject worth writing about. As a lapsed Catholic with a healthy dose of appropriate skepticism at most things religiously dogmatic, I like stories about people that seemed to have done it right. McGivney was a true servant. He cared about the souls of those in his congregation, but more importantly, he cared about their mortal lives and livelihoods. This is what made him special. The Knights of Columbus resulted.

Oh my goodness, this is a page turner. At a time in my life when it is like pulling teeth to make progress on the latest book, I finished this book in less than two days. It is inspiring. It is motivating. It is beautiful. Everybody must read this book. Father McGivney will be recognized as the Saint that he is, without a doubt!

This story was about a good man!

I enjoyed the biographical parts of the story. I feel like the authors go into too much detail about the formation of the Knights of Columbus.

Great read about the founder of the Knights of Columbus.

Parish Priest is a fascinating look into the life of Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, best known as the founder of the Knights of Columbus, as well as the broader story of the Catholic Church in the United States.As a relatively new Knight, I found the portrait of Father McGivney, and the story of how he came to found and guide the Order, to be of great interest. The book is very well researched, with the authors providing copius endnotes. They also do an outstanding job of weaving his story into the broader theme of American Catholicism, providing historical details and context that I was previously unaware of, even growing up as I did in a Catholic home.

I liked this book so much more than I expected to. Fr. McGivney is just the sort of priest we all want in our parishes. Hopefully, my immigrant ancestors were administered to by such a wonderful priest. His admirable efforts and focus on the needs of his flock were inspiring. I loved the insight into the late 19th century and, particularly, my new understanding of the origins of the Knights of Columbus and other such societies. Before the govt stepped up to social services, the local parish was the only resource for widows and orphans.

Great story about a catholic Priest, founder of the Knights of Columbus. Book great for anyone who wants to know about not only the Knights but what it was like to be a Catholic and a priest in the 19th Century. Good read for high school students and older on up. Knights will love it to learn of the beginnings of the Order. Knight Chaplains will find in him the model that the Knights see for their chaplains. The stories conveyed have great relevance for today.

This book is an interesting read on American Catholic history in the late 1800's as well as an inspiring story of a priest, and the challenges priests encountered during that era. It also tells the story of a priest who explored the need for life insurance which was one of the reasons the “Knights of Columbus” was founded.