Holy Cross - District of East Africa

Ministries

Mission Statement for Holy Cross Parishes

According to our constitution, a parish is a communion of “communities of the coming Kingdom.” Our parish ministry is an effort to form, unite, support, and expand such communities.

Our parishes, situated within different dioceses, will be attentive to the history and pastoral practices, participating with each Bishop in the shared life and planning that makes for a united and vibrant local church.

We bring our particular Holy Cross charism of vowed fidelity to the Lord Jesus and a common life characterized by prayer, shared faith, and brotherly care. As brothers and priests together in ministry, we seek to make a collaborative approach to discernment and responsibility.

We believe that the parish community is principally nourished by God’s grace in word and in sacrament. Thus we are committed to the serious study and prayer and preparation which makes for faithful preaching and reverent celebration of the sacraments, giving particular attention to the Sunday Eucharist or communion service where the community most visibly gathers as a church.

In union with the Bishops of Eastern Africa, we accept the pastoral priority of building and forming vibrant small Christian Communities.

As “educators in the faith” who reach out “in a preferential way to the poor and oppressed”, we will give attention to on-going faith formation, through well-designed catechumenates for children and adults.

The needs of the poor and the neglected are to be at the center of our parish life and worship. Thus efforts in the area of formal and informal education such as health care, community organization, agriculture, youth formation, job creation, environmental preservation, and the like will be central to our mission.

We desire an openness to the spirit, which will enable us to serve our parishes well.