Key Apostolates
We have worked in schools and parishes since Blessed Basil Moreau’s first summons to service. We still serve primarily in high schools, colleges, and universities. We also educate as parish priests and in other ministries among the poor.
Since 1840, when Father Moreau sent brothers and priests from France to Algeria to work in schools, we have been a missionary congregation of educators. Soon after that first mission, we were sent to the territories of Louisiana and Indiana in the United States, as well as to Canada, Italy, and Bangladesh. See where we have established communities.
Among our apostolates that you may know best:
- The Congregation of Holy Cross founded and administers the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Father Moreau sent seven young men—six brothers and Father Edward Sorin—to the United States to aid the cause of Catholic education in the pioneer territories. That group founded Notre Dame in 1842. See a listing of all our schools.
- Holy Cross Family Ministries is an umbrella organization whose various programs promote and support the spiritual well-being of the family. It was founded by Rev. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., who is now known as Servant of God because the cause for his canonization to sainthood has been introduced. The ministries include Family Rosary International and Family Theater Productions, the latter being a film and media apostolate based in Hollywood, Calif., working for many years to evangelize popular culture.
- The Oratory of St. Joseph at Mount Royal in Montreal, Canada, is the outgrowth of the devotion to St. Joseph shown by Blessed Brother Andre Bessette, the beloved doorkeeper of his Holy Cross community’s high school. Because he became known as a “miracle man” as he spread devotion to St. Joseph among the poor and ill of Montreal, Blessed Brother Andre was given permission to build a small chapel near the school. Today, the building that has replaced the chapel is the largest church in Canada.
