Mr. George Dann, left, and Mr. Robert Fox
present a symbolic check representing $135,000
to Msgr. Todd Lajiness at Archbishop’s Gala 2016.
L I V I N G UP TO FATHE R
M C G IVNEY’S EXA M PL E
The Michigan Knights complete
extraordinary funding of life ethics
chair dedicated to Knight’s founder.
T
HE CHECK PRESENTATION WAS A HIGHLIGHT
of last year’s Archbishop’s Gala, Sacred Heart Major
Seminary’s annual fundraising dinner—and it received a
rowdy response.
Before a crowd of close to one thousand cheering attendees,
Mr. Robert Fox, then-State Deputy of the State Council of
the Michigan Knights of Columbus, and Mr. George Dann,
former state deputy, handed a symbolic “big check” to Sacred
Heart’s rector, Msgr. Todd Lajiness.
20
Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Fall 2017
In doing so, they fulfilled a big-hearted
pledge by the members of the Michigan
Knights and the entire state council board.
The check represented a donation of
$135,000—the final installment of a $1.25
million commitment to fund the Fr. Mi-
chael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at the
seminary. The Michigan Knights are the sole
endowers of the chair.
Life: True to Knights’ Mission
Sacred Heart—which educates and forms
future priests, deacons, and lay ministers
for the Archdiocese of Detroit and dioceses
nationwide—announced an ambitious goal
in 2003: to establish six fully-endowed aca-
demic chairs. The Michigan Knights, then
led by State Deputy Kevin McFarland and
later by Mr. Dann, were among the first or-
ganizations to pledge support.
At the time, Monsignor Lajiness had
just become Sacred Heart’s dean of stud-
ies, responsible for the seminary’s edu-
cational curriculum. He recalls how the
endowed chairs were a “foundational
block” that buttressed the seminary’s insti-
tutional pledge to be a vital center of what
is known as the “new evangelization”—St.
John Paul II’s challenge to the Church to
engage the culture with the fundamental,
ever-fresh message of Christ.
“The concept of the chairs actually orig-
inated with Archbishop Allen Vigneron,
who was then the rector of Sacred Heart,”
Monsignor Lajiness says. “We all believed
that the Chair of Life Ethics would be an
exceptional project to collaborate on with
the Knights of Columbus.
“A key promoter of the new evangeliza-
tion is the Knights,” explains Monsignor.
“Supporting Catholic teaching on life is-
sues connects with their mission.”
The seminary and the leadership of the
Michigan Knights enthusiastically agreed
that the chair would be named after Fr.
Michael J. McGivney, the founder of the
Knights of Columbus. The naming was
especially appropriate: Father McGivney
was a staunch supporter of Catholic fam-
ily life, and the Knights are renowned for
defending a whole range of life issues.