Gift To Bishop Thompson, Diocese
Lawrence B. Fluhr, immediate past deputy of the Knights of Columbus Indiana State Council, visited the Catholic Center on Oct. 28 with an amazing gift for Bishop Charles C. Thompson and the Diocese of Evansville.
Fluhr presented the bishop with a framed print of a painting of the Immaculate Conception that hangs above the main altar of the Basilica Cathedral of Notre Dame de Québec, which celebrates its 350th anniversary year through Dec. 28. Pope Francis blessed the image on June 29, 2013 – the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul – through auspices of the Almoner of His Holiness, Archbishop Guido Pozzo.
Sister Mary of the Eucharist, a Sister of Charity of Québec, painted the original in 1925. It replaced an 18th-century painting destroyed in a 1922 fire at the cathedral.
The Basilica Cathedral of Notre Dame de Québec is the first cathedral in the New World north of Mexico. Bishop François de Laval designated it as the first parish church of Québec in 1664. At the time, the Diocese of Québec encompassed all of the North American possessions of France – from the Canadian Atlantic Coast to the plains of the far West, including the Mississippi Valley and Louisiana territories.
During the 131st Supreme Convention, held in August 2013 in San Antonio, Texas, Knights of Columbus state councils received the blessed, framed prints during the Aug. 9 inauguration ceremony for the order’s Immaculate Conception Marian Prayer Program. Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore presided, and Québec Archbishop Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, I.S.P.X., made remarks to the international gathering of Knights.
Each State Council was charged with completing a pilgrimage with the image throughout each jurisdiction as part of the Orderwide prayer program. Once the pilgrimage was completed, deputies could present the images as they saw fit. Fluhr presented this print to Bishop Thompson, who represented Indiana bishops at the 131st Supreme Convention.
Bishop Thompson is a member of Knights of Columbus Council 7544 at St. Benedict Cathedral Parish in Evansville.
