Last October, we celebrated the beatification of Fr. Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus. While Blessed McGivney was the first Catholic priest born in the U.S. to be beatified, he was not the first Knight of Columbus to be beatified much less canonized. In 2000, St. John Paul II canonized 25 Mexican martyrs, six of whom were Catholic priests that were Knights. In 1924, there were more than 50 K of C Councils in Mexico, despite widespread persecution of Catholics starting in 1910. From 1926-1929 this persecution intensified with many priests and laypeople being ordered to renounce Christ in public. Refusal meant not only punishment, but sometimes torture and death. The six Knights, who gave their lives in defense of their faith and their flocks, are Saints Luis Batis Sáínz, Mateo Correa Magallanes, Miguel de la Mora de la Mora, José Maria Robles Hurtado, Pedro de Jesús Maldonado Lucero, and Rodrigo Aguilar Alemán.
In 2006, another Knight, Rafael Guízar y Valencia, was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. Although not martyred, St. Valencia was known as the “bishop of the poor” and survived the Mexican revolution and the persecution of the 1920s. In 1910, he was forced to go underground and disguised himself as a junk dealer to continue his ministry and founded a clandestine seminary to train future priests, while escaping death several times. In addition to the saints mentioned above, there are currently four other Knights who hold the title Venerable or Blessed, and five more for whom a cause for canonization has been opened. Vivat Jesus!
For more information about the Knights visit our website at lasallekofc.webstarts.com or email us at knights@sainti.org.
