Papua New Guinea
On November 15, 2023, Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., Superior General, announced that the Congregation of Holy Cross would open a new mission in the Diocese of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. It is the first new foreign mission established by the Congregation in almost 40 years.
The drive to cross borders and open a new mission came from the Congregation’s 2022 General Chapter, which recommended “the General Administration work with jurisdictional leaders to explore possibilities for ministries in new countries in alignment with Congregational Mission priorities.”
In keeping with the Congregation’s tradition of going where the Church asks for its service, the General Administration reached out to the Dicastery for Evangelization in November 2022 to ask where Holy Cross might best serve the needs of the Church. The response came back in February 2023: Papua New Guinea.
“This is a historic moment for the Congregation of Holy Cross as this will be the first new foreign mission established by the Congregation in almost 40 years. Continuing the tradition set by our Founder, our going to Papua New Guinea is in response to an expressed need of the Church, as affirmed by Cardinal Luis Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery of Evangelization.” – Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C.
Conversations with Apostolic Nuncio led Holy Cross to the Diocese of Bougainville. A task force was formed and led by Fr. Emmanuel Kallarackal, C.S.C., Vicar General and First Assistant, to lead the Congregation’s discernment of the new mission. The Superior General and task force members made a visit to Papua New Guinea in August 2023, where they were received by the Most Rev. Dariusz Kaluza, MSF, Bishop of the Diocese of Bougainville.
View a video of the task force’s visit
The task force then prepared a formal proposal for the new mission that was presented to the General Council as well as the Council of the Congregation, which is specifically tasked with providing the Superior General “with wider consultation in his duty to unify congregational planning, especially for new international works and foundations” (7:104). That proposal was approved by the Council of the Congregation on November 15, 2023, during its meeting in Lima, Peru.
On Monday, March 25, 2024, the Superior General announced the eight missionaries, four brothers, and four priests, who will form the pioneering team to establish the Congregation’s mission in Bougainville. The eight missionaries come from seven different jurisdictions and five different countries.
In the same communiqué, Br. Bednarczyk announced that the mission would be named for the Holy Family. He cited how Blessed Basile Moreau, the Congregation’s founder, chose the Holy Family as the symbol of unity for his religious family. He wrote: “As we do in our apostolic works around the world, we want to become family with the people we will serve, for as our Constitutions remind us, ‘We come not just as servants, but as their neighbors, to be with them and of them’ (2:13).”
Read Updates on the Papua New Guinea Mission
The Holy Family Mission will be based in two parishes: Christ the King Parish in Hantova and Sacred Heart Parish in Tinputz. Both of these parishes, which have over 10,000 parishioners, were established and developed by the Marist Fathers. Each has a school on the campus with other outstations and schools in the outlying areas. A particular focus of the mission is tending to the many pressing pastoral needs of families in the area.
The Congregation’s eight missionaries will gather in Rome in August 2024 for a two-week orientation program in preparation for the new mission. The plan is for the first missionaries to arrive in Papua New Guinea and begin their integration program in October or November 2024.