Father Robert Higgins, parochial vicar at St. John Neumann Church in Columbia, was surprised to receive the Knights of Columbus’ Blessed Michael McGivney Medal for 2026. The honor was presented Aug. 3 during the annual Supreme Knight’s Awards Session, held just before the 144th Supreme Convention in Denver, Colorado. The medal is awarded annually to a KofC chaplain whose priestly zeal and exemplary service reflect the finest traditions of the order’s founder, Blessed Michael McGivney.

Higgins’ path to the priesthood was unconventional. His first call came as a boy in Liberty, New York, where his mother invited a different priest to dinner each week.

“We would come home from 9 a.m. Mass and basically sit down and start eating dinner until 10 p.m. that night,” he said. “It was a weekly thing, and we always had a priest over. I just had an inclination that I could do that.”

But life intervened. After attending Fordham University, Higgins taught English, coached rugby and football, and was engaged a couple of times in his 20s. He also worked as a construction manager for international firms. He attended seminary briefly, then left to buy real estate, eventually owning two Subway franchises and overseeing 27 employees.

Around age 40, Higgins sold his real estate holdings and returned to seminary. He completed a pastoral year in North Carolina before resuming formation at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, for the second time. He then spent time in Rome, three years at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and three more years in Buffalo, New York.

He left seminary again, got his stockbroker’s license and sold insurance.

“Ultimately, I got to the point [in life] that I had done it all, and I didn’t feel I needed to prove anything,” Higgins said.

He said his earlier life had been about achieving success, while becoming a priest was about pursuing holiness. In 2000, he sold everything again and returned to seminary, moving to Charleston for a pastoral year at Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach, on America Street.

Then-Bishop of Charleston Robert J. Baker allowed Higgins to become a diocesan seminarian, but he had to start over completely. He spent four years back at St. Vincent de Paul in Florida — but this time, he was ready to commit fully to the priesthood. He spent time in Mexico learning Spanish, was assigned to St. Peter Church in Beaufort in 2004, and was ordained a priest in 2005.

“For some priests, it can take as short as four years to complete seminary and be ordained. For me, it took a total of 15 years,” he said.

Early assignments included Christ Our King in Mount Pleasant, stints in Newberry and Laurens, and Our Lady Star of the Sea in North Myrtle Beach. Around that time, the Knights of Columbus asked Higgins to serve as state chaplain.

It was also then that his father died in New York and his mother was diagnosed with cancer. While she received treatment in Jacksonville, Florida, Higgins was transferred to the Hardeeville, Ridgeland and Hampton area to be closer to her.

“I was so grateful for that time with my mom,” he said. “I will forever be grateful for that transfer to be closer to her."

He spent 18 months there before she died. Afterward, Higgins asked to take a bereavement course, saying he had not fully grieved his father’s death. He completed the four-month course and was reassigned to Charleston, serving as chaplain for the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System from 2012 to 2015 and for the Port of Charleston.

While at the VA, Higgins worked largely in hospice care. “I got to the point where I really looked forward to going home to be with Christ,” he said. The work was emotionally demanding, so he balanced it by serving as a “destination wedding priest” in Charleston.

“I would do weddings at different churches all over. It gave me so much joy, and it was a good balance,” he said.
He remained the Knights of Columbus’ acting state chaplain throughout this period. In 2015, he moved to Columbia to serve as a chaplain for incarcerated people statewide, traveling 48,000 miles a year from late 2015 to 2019.

In March 2019, Higgins was called to St. John Neumann Church in Columbia, but was reassigned within months to St. Mary of the Angels Church in Anderson after the Franciscan order withdrew from service in the state. His stay there was also brief because of a health issue.

“I was so busy in Anderson that I neglected my medical appointments, so I asked to be closer to Charleston so that I could see my doctors at the Medical University of South Carolina,” he said.

He served as pastor of St. Patrick Church in Charleston from 2020 to 2023 before returning to St. John Neumann, where he remains.

Now in his 19th year as the Knights of Columbus’ state chaplain, Higgins said he has enjoyed leading members on pilgrimages to Mexico, Italy and France.

Reflecting on the McGivney Medal, Higgins credited the mentors who guided him, including Msgr. Tom Skindelesky, Florida’s Knights of Columbus state chaplain.

“I was assigned to him, and really, he deserves this award more than I do,” Higgins said. “We share the same birthday, 15 years apart, which is kind of cool.”
He also thanked the bishops who shaped his journey.
“I want to thank Bishop Baker for taking a chance on me, Bishop Robert Guglielmone for transferring me to be closer to my mom, and now Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune, because I just feel so comfortable around him. We respect one another,” he said.

Higgins also credited Knights of Columbus State Deputy Tom Monahon for his friendship and mentorship.

“It is nice to be recognized and affirmed. They see something I don’t see,” Higgins said. “I have to thank my family, the people who got me to where I am today, and most of all, I have to thank God.”

Listen to Father Higgins’ interview on Catholic Radio in SC: catholicradioinsc.com