The Knights of Peter Claver and Ladies Auxiliary Senior National Convention is scheduled for this weekend, July 22-25th, and will be virtual for the second year in a row, gathering courts (men) and councils (women) from around the country.
Their Saint Peter Claver Foundation annual gala, part of the proceedings and open to the public, is scheduled for Saturday, July 24th at 6pm CST.
The convention follows the respective 4th-degree conclaves for Knights and Ladies of Grace, which occurred this past weekend, and the junior national conventions which met earlier this month.
A tentative schedule has been released for the mens’ portion of this weekend’s event, consisting of three plenary sessions following the joint opening session with the Ladies on Friday evening. National elections will occur Saturday morning.
(At the time of this writing, the Ladies’ schedule is not yet listed on the order’s website.)
Following their independent proceedings, the two groups will reconvene for the gala on Saturday night and for Mass the following morning.
The liturgy will be streamed from St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, a diocesan Black parish in New Orleans pastored by Fr Rodney “Tony” Ricard.
While registration for the convention has closed, interested parties can register for the gala until the day of the event. Tickets are $25 and entertainment will be provided by Houston jazz artist Joe Carmouche.
The order is also running a national raffle until July 31st, with $14,500 in prizes. Proceeds will benefit the Florence and Thomas R. Lee Jr. and Willie Polk Jr. Memorial Scholarships, which help fund college education for deserving Black youth.
The national convention’s ad booklet is available here and also for physical purchase.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger, in priesthood formation with the Josephites, and a ThM student with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA).
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