View as Webpage | July 2022
Dear Friend,

Our calling is to serve the Lord Jesus in mission not as independent individuals but in a brotherhood. Our community life refreshes the faith that makes our work a ministry and not just employment; it fortifies us by the example and encouragement of our confreres, and it protects us from being overwhelmed or discouraged by our work.
-- Constitution of the Congregation of Holy Cross, 4:33
On the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Most Rev. Kevin Rhoades, Bishop of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend officially accepted the joint petition of the Midwest Province of Brothers and the United States Province of Priests and Brothers for the Cause for Canonization of Br. Columba O'Neill, C.S.C. It was requested that the cause for canonization of Br. Columba be formally opened on the grounds of a life lived out of heroic service.
The Office of Vocations received over 20 applications from talented and faithful Catholic high school young men from across the country for its annual Summer Seminary Immersion Program (SSIP) -- 16 of them attended the two-week academic program organized through Notre Dame’s Office of Pre-College Programs. SSIP offers young men considering a vocation to priesthood or brotherhood the opportunity to focus on the theology of the priesthood and of the consecrated life through historical, sacramental, scriptural, and ministerial lenses.
Around The Province

Keenan Bross, C.S.C., and Brian Vetter, C.S.C., have spent most of the summer at the Holy Cross parish of Nuestra Madre Santísima de la Luz working with the Holy Cross community there.

"Beyond being a great chance to learn some down-to-earth Spanish, these folks have been the beating heart of the Christian community that makes us yearn for our days of full-time ministry," Bross concludes. "Perhaps some day even with the wonderful people of Mexico."

On Friday afternoon, July 1, in a historic first, the 2022 General Chapter of the Congregation of Holy Cross elected Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., as Superior General. Br. Bednarczyk, who served as the Vicar General and First Assistant during these previous six years, is the first brother to serve as Superior General in the Congregation’s history.

The board of trustees of Holy Cross College announced the appointment of Dr. Marco Clark as its new president. This marks the first lay president for this Holy Cross institution of higher education, which is sponsored by the Midwest Province of Brothers. Dr. Clark will succeed Fr. David T. Tyson, C.S.C., who became president on July 31, 2017.
Did You Know?
Pillars is a bi-annual magazine produced by the Congregation of Holy Cross that includes feature stories, interviews with Holy Cross priests and brothers, Q&As, and news and events from Holy Cross ministries and missions in the United States and abroad. Read or download the most recent digital edition!