Karkala, Jan 19, 2018: Udupi Diocese Bishop Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo released a special postal envelope and a postal stamp in honour of the St Lawrence Minor Basilica of Attur at a ceremony held on January 18, Thursday. The stamp was released to commemorate the elevation of the famous St. Lawrence Shrine at Attur as a Minor Basilica.
The special envelope and the postal stamp feature the picture of the St Lawrence Basilica and the miracle statue of the patron saint. The personalised My Stamps will be of face value of Rs 5.The shrine was elevated into a Minor Basilica on April 26, 2016 by Pope Francis. The official proclamation in this regard was made on August 1 the same year.
In his address, the Bishop of Udupi thanked the Postal Department for its great gesture of releasing postal envelope and stamp in honour of the Minor Basilica.
Shirthady Rajendra Kumar, Post Master General of Dakshina Kannada Region who also spoke said the stamps featuring the minor basilica will be used on all letters posted from the post office at Attur.
Fr George D’Souza, Rector of St Lawrence Minor Basilica, M K Krishnaiah, Curator of Corporation Bank’s heritage museum and also a stamp collector, Manjunath, senior post officer, Puttur, Rajashekar Bhat, senior post officer, Udupi, Anantharam, Assistant Director at the office of Post Master General, Bengaluru, Fr Valerian Mendonca, Chancellor of Udupi Diocese and others were present.