Knights of Peter Claver, Inc. Celebrates 100 Years Of Service
The Knights of Peter Claver Inc. (www.kofpc.org)
will celebrate its centennial in November of this year. The much anticipated
event will kick-off this summer at the organization's 94th Annual Convention
being held in New Orleans, home of the organization's headquarters, August 2-7
2009. The New Orleans Hilton will serve as the Headquarter Hotel with key events
being held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.
The celebration will bring Cardinals, Bishops,
Priests, and Lay Catholics from all over the country. Over 3000 people are
expected at the Convention Mass where the principal Celebrant is Archbishop
Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Other events, including a gala and
masquerade ball have been planned as well.
The Knights of Peter Claver, Inc. is the nation's
largest African-American Catholic lay organization. The Order was founded on
Nov. 7, 1909 in Mobile, AL for Black men who were barred from other
organizations in the Catholic Church. The organization's membership has since
expanded to include the entire Catholic Church including Bishops and Cardinals
from around the country. The Order is named after St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit
priest from Spain who ministered to African slaves in Cartegena, Colombia in the
1600s. Peter Claver is said to have converted over 300,000 slaves to
Catholicism.
The Knights of Peter Claver is a faith based
fraternal order with units in 400 Catholic parishes in the United States and
South America. The Order engages in a variety of national service projects and
is a major supporter of the United Negro College Fund. The organization recently
completed its National Environmental Health and Justice Literacy Project, a
program designed to educate citizens of poor communities about environmental
health hazards. The Knights of Peter Claver is a member of the worldwide
International Alliance of Catholic Knights.
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