LIVE from the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention, Hour 1, Day 2

**Drew Mariani** (0:01)
The issues that matter most, right here.

**Michael McCusker** (0:04)
The Drew Mariani Show. On Relevant Radio.

**Drew Mariani** (0:12)
Well, good afternoon, welcome. It is good to be back here with you today. If you are just tuning in, we are streaming today's broadcast over Relevant Radio Plus, and on YouTube, Facebook, you can check us out on all those platforms. But it's good to have you here, wherever you're listening.
Turn up the radio. I am broadcasting my final day at the 144th Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus. And this has been such a phenomenal gathering. It's brought together Catholic leaders and bishops and priests and thousands of knights from around the world. And you might have seen the knights in your church, right? You might have seen them at that pancake breakfast or doing something else, but they are just a great lay organization. One of the largest Catholic organizations in the world, 6.2 million men have become members of the Knights of Columbus. And their work strengthens parishes and renews Catholic men, and it protects the unborn and cares for those who are widows and orphans. They're doing work not just here in the United States and Ukraine and all over the world. They support seminarians and ultimately they bring Christ to people all across the globe. And I am just honored to be able to be here to bring to you their story. If you are a man, you might want to look into it. You might find some real fulfillment, and maybe that's what you're looking for. But the stories of their origins is pretty quite amazing. Since we're just beginning the show today, I just thought I'd give you a quick thumbnail of the Knights of Columbus. It was founded by Father Michael McGivney, he's now blessed back in 1882, who saw struggling Catholic families who'd lost husbands and fathers, and he decided to do something about it. So he started in the basement of a Connecticut parish.
And it's grown now, as I said, to over 2.2 million members worldwide, and it makes them one of the greatest forces in charity. We've talked a lot about that over the past day, and we'll talk a lot more today as well. But one of the things the Knights do is they honor, they have the Blessed McGivney Medal, and it's one of the highest honors.
Other Knights of Columbus, if you get this, it's one of the highest honors they bestow, and it's presented each year.
They recognize a Knight chaplain whose priestly zeal and exemplary service reflect really the light of the Order's founder. And this year's recipient is a priest by the name of Father Robert F. Higgins. I had the great privilege of speaking to him off camera not too long ago, and he's a late convert, and he was involved in all sorts of, everything from construction to owning restaurants. It was an amazing story. He's the state chaplain of South Carolina's Knights of Columbus, where vocations there are booming, and the priests in that diocese I know really are working quite hard. His role, he's very faithfully served for nearly two decades in that role, but what makes him and his story so inspiring isn't simply the positions he held. It's really the people that he served, and he's been a chaplain to veterans, to the chaplain to the port of Charleston, to the diocese of Charleston's first vicar of prisons. He's been involved in prison ministry, and he's carried Christ in the places that people never see. Four federal prisons, 24 state prisons, 48 county jails, and that is an experience. So in a lot of way, his ministry mirrors that of Father McGivney's own mission of seeking those on the margins for hope. Fluent in English and Spanish, I was talking to him off air. He's now trying to learn Viennese, and that's kind of an interesting story too. He just wants to bring Christ there as well. But he joins me today, and he is this year's blessed Michael McGivney's award winner. And Father, it is great to have you. Father Higgins, thank you for your time.

**Robert Higgins** (3:55)
Thank you.

**Drew Mariani** (3:56)
Thank you so much for being here.

**Robert Higgins** (3:57)
Thank you for all you do.

**Drew Mariani** (3:59)
For those who don't know, what's a medal all about? Why is it so prestigious? And I know you've got a litany of things that I can credit you for.
I broad brushed them all for the audience, but fill us in on how you got invited to the Knights and how you are now recognized for this exemplary work.

**Robert Higgins** (4:16)
So the award is named after Blessed Michael McGivney, who was a parish priest in Connecticut.