Diocesan News

Knights of Columbus Mark Founder’s Birthday at St. Bernadette Church in Brooklyn

Paula Katinas
By · Senior Reporter
Published August 14, 2026  11:29am EDT
Members of the Knights of Columbus (above, with Father Jeremy Canna in front of The Shrine Church of St. Bernadette’s statue of Blessed Father Michael McGivney ) say they try to attend “Rosary in the Grotto” as often as they can, says Grand Knight Vincent DiBenedetto. The Knights are joined by Father Jeremy Canna in the church’s grotto in front of the statue of Blessed Father Michael McGivney. (Photos: Courtesy of Vincent DiBenedetto)

DYKER HEIGHTS — Members of the Knights of Columbus Archbishop John Hughes Council joined parishioners at The Shrine Church of St. Bernadette to pray the rosary next to a statue of the organization’s founder, Blessed Michael McGivney, on Aug. 11, which they donated to the church earlier this year.  

“It was a really good night,” Grand Knight Vincent DiBenedetto told The Tablet. “There was a good crowd there, and we all said the rosary together.”  

The visit was timed to take place a day before Blessed Father McGivney’s birthday on Aug. 12, DiBenedetto said. The gathering was also a part of the church’s weekly “Rosary in the Grotto” prayer rally, which the church hosts every Tuesday during the summer.  

“He was a good man, a legend. And we try to follow his example,” DiBenedetto said about Blessed Father McGivney. 

RELATED: Feast for Blessed Father McGivney Celebrated to Inspire Clergy to be Like Him

The McGivney statue stands in the church’s grotto, near statues of the Blessed Mother, St. Bernadette (the church’s namesake), and other saints.  

Father Jeremy Canna, St. Bernadette’s pastor and the chaplain for the Archbishop John Hughes Council, blessed the statue of Blessed Father McGivney (1852-1890), who was a parish priest in Connecticut when he founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882. 

After the rosary, the Knights presented Father Canna with new priestly vestments bearing the Knights of Columbus crest.  

Grand Knight Vincent DiBenedetto presents a new vestment to Father Jeremy Canna, pastor of The Shrine Church of St. Bernadette. Father Canna accepted a request from the Knights of Columbus Archbishop John Hughes Council to its chaplain.

“We have always had a good relationship with the church, and we have a good relationship with Father Jeremy,” DiBenedetto said. “We wanted to mark Father McGivney’s birthday by giving something to [him].”  

The council, located at 1305 86th St. in Dyker Heights, is just four blocks from the church at 8201 13th Ave.  

“We are the protectors of the church. That’s what we feel we’re supposed to do as Knights,” explained DiBenedetto, who has been a member of the council for 24 years. “We look after the church. Whatever they need to do, we try to help them do it.”