The Spirit of Father McGivney
Korean Knights journey in the founder’s footsteps during a pilgrimage to Connecticut following the Supreme Convention
By Cecilia Engbert
9/19/2024
Korean Knights and family members visit St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn., Aug. 10, during a pilgrimage following the 142nd Supreme Convention in Québec City.
Korea’s delegation to the 142nd Supreme Convention made a meaningful detour on their way home, traveling from Québec City to Connecticut to visit the towns and parishes where Knights of Columbus founder Blessed Michael McGivney lived and worked.
The first nonmilitary K of C councils were established in the Republic of Korea in 2014, and the Order there is small but growing. In honor of the 10th anniversary, 21 Knights and 12 family members attended this year’s convention, led by Territorial Deputy Gen. Shin Kyoung-soo and Bishop Titus Seo Sang-bum of the Military Ordinariate of South Korea. It was the largest Korean delegation ever to attend the Supreme Convention.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly noted their presence in his annual report, saying, “To you and all our brother Knights in Korea, thank you for expanding Father McGivney’s vision in Asia.”
After the convention, the group took a bus south to Connecticut and began their Father McGivney pilgrimage Aug. 9 in Terryville. The small town was part of Father McGivney’s pastorate when he served in nearby Thomaston from 1884 until his death in 1890.
After Mass at Immaculate Conception Church in Terryville, the delegation visited the Thomaston Opera House — where Father McGivney staged plays with his parishioners — and stopped to pray in St. Thomas Church.
The pilgrims next visited the statue of Father McGivney in his hometown of Waterbury before returning to New Haven, where they toured Supreme Council headquarters and the Blessed Michael McGivney Pilgrimage Center.
Learning more about Father McGivney was a moving experience for Father Lee Sung-woong, who translated the pilgrimage center tour into Korean for the rest of the group.
“I was very inspired by the spirit of Father McGivney throughout our pilgrimage,” said Father Lee, chaplain of St. Lee Yoonil Joannes Council 18519 in Daegu. “At the center, while translating the narrator’s explanation on the history of the K of C and the life of Blessed Michael McGivney, I was overwhelmed by God’s grace and presence.”
Gen. Shin Kyoung-soo (right), territorial deputy of South Korea, presents a handcrafted Korean Nativity scene to Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly at the Supreme Convention in Québec City Aug. 7. (Photo by Matthew Barrick).
The Korean Knights also made a delivery to the pilgrimage center: a Korean Nativity scene for its extensive collection of Christmas crèches from around the world. Gen. Shin had formally presented the crèche, which was handcrafted by a Korean Knight, to Supreme Knight Kelly at the Supreme Convention a few days before.
On Aug. 10, Bishop Seo was the principal celebrant of the first Korean-language Mass at St. Mary’s Church, Father McGivney’s parish when he founded the Knights in 1882. The delegation was joined at the Mass by members of the local Korean American community and Father Lee Sang-seon from Sacred Heart Church in Wethersfield, the only Korean Catholic parish in Connecticut.
Following Mass, the pilgrims received a tour of St. Mary’s Church, including the basement where the Order was founded, and Blessed Michael’s sarcophagus.
“As the Korean Knights celebrated Mass together in St. Mary’s Church, the church where Father McGivney first ministered, I realized the great grace of the Lord anew,” said District Deputy Lee Jin-young. “When I planned to visit the Québec convention and New Haven to commemorate the 10th anniversary, I was worried whether it would actually happen. But during the Mass, I realized deeply that it was accomplished as planned thanks to … the grace of the Lord that Blessed Michael McGivney spoke of.”
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CECILIA ENGBERT is a content producer for the communications department of the Knights of Columbus.