Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
A statue of Blessed Michael McGivney in front of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut.A statue of Blessed Michael McGivney, sculpted by Stanley Bliefeld, is displayed outside of St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Connecticut. BETHANY IPPOLITO KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS | OSV NEWS

A priest on the road to sainthood, who has united millions of Catholic men across the world, is drawing faithful together in the town where he first served.

The Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, announced it will merge seven parishes in New Haven into the newly created Blessed Michael McGivney Parish, named for the Waterbury, Connecticut, native who founded the Knights of Columbus fraternal order, which counts some 2 million members globally.

Effective July 1, the parishes of Sts. Aedan and Brendan, St. Anthony, St. Martin de Porres, St. Mary, St. Michael, Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Stanislaus will be “united as one parish under the patronage of Blessed Michael McGivney,” said Hartford Archbishop Leonard P. Blair in a July 3 joint statement with the Knights of Columbus and Catholic leaders from the New Haven area.

The merged parish will operate eight existing church buildings while serving thousands of diverse parishioners.

Under the new pastoral model, the merged parish will operate eight existing church buildings while serving thousands of diverse parishioners, with the St. Mary church site as the anchor.

Archbishop Blair chose the new parish name from a list of three options, which had been decided upon by a committee of New Haven parishioners following several months of deliberation.

Father Ryan Lerner, pastor of St. Mary -- the oldest Catholic parish in New Haven and site of Father McGivney’s tomb -- will serve as the new parish’s moderator.

“I feel profoundly moved and so very excited that our unified parish will be named for and entrusted to the patronal care of Blessed Michael McGivney,” said Father Lerner.

The saint-in-the-making’s “intercessory prayers have helped to guide this local manifestation of the body of Christ through a time of historic change,” said Father Lerner.

Father McGivney “will continue to inspire us as we journey forward together as one family of faith,” Father Lerner said.

Beatified in 2020, Father McGivney, who established the Knights of Columbus in 1882 while an assistant pastor at St. Mary, “will continue to inspire us as we journey forward together as one family of faith,” Father Lerner said.

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said the Knights of Columbus were “honored that the new city-wide parish has adopted Blessed Michael McGivney’s name,” pointing to the priest’s pastoral dedication “amid a society that frowned upon Catholic immigrants.”

“Blessed Michael McGivney ... was an exemplar of charity and steadfast devotion to Christ, still today inspiring millions of people to action for the common good, in the name of God,” said Archbishop Blair. “I will continue to pray for this new parish community and invite all New Haven Catholics to do the same during this time of great Catholic revitalization in the Elm City.”

More: US Church

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV greets religious sisters during a meeting with officials and employees of the Roman Curia, Vatican City State and the Diocese of Rome in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 24, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Describing the Curia as the institution that preserves “the historical memory of the church,” Pope Leo called on these Vatican employees to “work together” with him “in the great cause of unity and love.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 24, 2025
Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025