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By Deborah Gyapong
Canadian Catholic News
OTTAWA -- The upcoming 2008
International Eucharistic Congress coincides not only with the 400th
anniversary of Quebec City's
founding, but also with the 350th anniversary of Canada's first bishop Francois de
Laval and the 300th anniversary of his death.
"He built the church with boldness," said Father Jacques Gourde, who, with
Sister Lucienne Boisvert, is organizing a series of special events to mark the Jubilee year
begun on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception December 8.
Beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980, Laval established the first
cathedral in North America as well as the New World's first Catholic
seminary, establishing a community of priests to minister to both French
settlers and native peoples.
"He was really involved with the people," said Gourde, noting that Laval
was not preoccupied by Rome or the hierarchy back home, because letters
between France or Rome would take months. Yet Laval maintained a unity
with the global Church. He was animated by a love of the Gospel and the
people he served. "He built an original Church for Quebec."
However, his missionary work was fraught with danger. The Iroquois
Confederacy, supported by English and Dutch colonists further south, was
at war with the Huron Indians who accepted some of the first Jesuit
missionaries.
"He was like Abraham, going to a strange land," said Gourde. Ordained
bishop in 1658, Laval came to the New World in 1659 as an apostolic vicar.
He established the seminary in 1668. He became North America's first
bishop when the Quebec diocese was established in 1674.
Laval, like the fur traders and the Jesuits, traveled by canoe, risking
attack by hostile bands, harsh weather and difficult portages as he
constantly visited the parishes he planted as far away as Montreal and
Tadoussac.
His spirituality focused on devotion to the Holy Family, the Holy Angels
and the Virgin Mary. He did not leave any books behind, only a few
letters, because of his constant travel.
"We are very proud of him," said Gourde. "We still have the seminaries; we
still have the parishes, this capacity to be involved with the Gospel in
Quebec."
"Francois de Laval is exactly the man who can help us and inspire us," he
said. "He was a builder. He didn't work alone. He worked by the Holy
Spirit. We have to do the same thing."
"By myself I will just lose," he added. "We have to be involved with the
people in our churches now and believe."
Like Laval, today's Catholics must show the Gospel through the example of
their lives, Gourde emphasized. Just as Laval drew people to God through
the love he had for them -- both the French and the native peoples --
Gourde stressed that Catholics today need to love the people in today's
society.
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Laval sets an example for freedom and boldness in the service of the
Church, said Gourde, yet at the same time, Laval was "very realistic" as
he concerned himself with the very basics of figuring out where priests
would live, and how they would provide community for each other even as
they served in far flung parishes.
"We have to rebuild all the time," said Gourde. "Each generation has to do
something new for the Church."
Ordained in 1972, Gourde entered the armed forces and spent 10 years as a
chaplain. Now he divides his time between organizing the Laval
celebrations and providing pastoral ministry to public servants who work
at the Quebec National Assembly.
"I have been chosen for this time," he said. "I have been chosen to
proclaim the Gospel in this time. I will be chosen by love."
"I am enjoying my priesthood," he added. "I am enjoying this time. I am
very happy to live in this time with these people in Quebec."
Laval's successor, Bishop
Jean-Baptiste de Saint-Vallier, made it "very hard" for Laval after he
retired, Gourde said, but Laval never complained. He returned to France
for a while, but returned so he could die in Quebec at the age of 85.
Gourde said he must have been in robust health to survive that long.
Among the activities Gourde and Boisvert have organized for 2008 will be a
May 31 exposition of 50 murals created by regional high school students at
a farm once owned by Laval near the Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre
shrine. Winners will be selected among the participants.
They are also organizing a concert June 1 at St. Joachin, a church built
during Laval's lifetime, and a multi-media spectacular in the court of the
Old Seminary in Quebec July 1 - 11. There will also be memorials to Laval
during the Eucharistic Congress June 15 - 22.
Quebec City will also host about 50 Geants de Nord, giant puppet-like
figures that commemorate historical figures, August 10 - 20. The tradition
originated in Northern France and Belgium. A giant figure of Laval will
also take part. He will also have a "village" built for him that is likely
to delight children.
-- Courtesy of Canadian Catholic News. Please do not reprint without
permission.
Related stories:
Pilgrims
to make 64-day trek to Quebec City for International Eucharistic
Congress
A dozen pilgrims are on a 64-day, 1,600-kilometre trek
to Quebec City in the lead-up to the 2008 International Eucharistic
Congress. Marchers took to the pavement in Midland on Easter Sunday
carrying a symbolic object -- the Ark of the New Covenant -- a wooden work
of art created especially for the congress and blessed by the
Pope.
CanWest News Service, March 25
March 27/2008
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