The North American Lieutenants' meeting was held in Canada this year

The Governor General, Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, took part in the North American Lieutenants’ annual meeting held in Quebec City, Canada, from June 6 to 9.

That was a critical encounter for the internal coordination of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, as 15,000 of the 30,000 Knights and Dames worldwide reside in North America.

After a meeting with Cardinal Cyprien Lacroix, Archbishop of Quebec and Grand Prior of the local Lieutenancy, the Governor General addressed the Lieutenants in a major speech. He emphasised, for example, the importance of Members' personal contributions that are the basic foundation for the Order's solidarity activity towards the Latin Catholic diocese of the Holy Land. Indeed, unlike other organisations, the constant commitment, both spiritual and material, of each Member does make the specificity of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre as a pontifical institution.

The meeting, chaired by the Vice-Governor General for North America, Thomas Pogge, in the presence of the Vice-Governor General for Latin America, Enric Mas, continued with numerous exchanges between the Lieutenants and the Governor General, especially on current issues related to the situation in the Holy Land and the aid provided regularly and discreetly by the Order.

After that meeting, the participants prayed during a mass celebrated in Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix (Our Lady of Peace) Cathedral, on the occasion of the jubilee of the 350^th anniversary of the foundation of the diocese of Quebec, the second diocese created in America after that of Santo Domingo. The Lieutenant for Canada-Quebec, Mireille Ethier, who organised the event, was warmly thanked by the Governor General - on behalf of everyone - for her work at the head of the Order in that part of the world.

François Vayne

(June 2024)