蜜桃交友

By Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA

As the Church marks the 2025 Easter celebrations, the Congregation of the Holy Cross (CSC) will embark on a transformative journey ‘the Year of Mission’ under the theme Hope Beyond Borders.

According to Br. Paul Bednarczyk, the Superior General, the initiative is both a call to action and a profound invitation to witness Christ’s boundless love in a world yearning for renewal.

“On this anniversary of the birth of our holy Founder, Blessed Basile Moreau, I am pleased to declare publicly a Year of Mission, which will commence on 28 April,” he said in a letter announcing the year-long anniversary. “This opening date is the 185th anniversary of Father Basile Moreau's sending of the first Holy Cross missionaries outside of France to Algiers in 1840.”

Embrace the unknown with faith

Br. Bednarczyk quoted the congregation’s Constitutions, "our mission sends us across borders of every sort" (2:17).

He said the order’s guiding document reminds members that the anniversary is an encouragement “to reach out and cross not only the physical borders that separate nations and states, but all borders and walls we construct between ourselves and others, whoever those ‘others’ might be.”

“A hope that goes beyond borders means being willing to venture out from our comfort zones, to leave behind the familiar, and to go forth into the unfamiliar to see whom and what we might encounter,” he said. “This can take the form of meeting new people and cultures, developing new capacities in ministry, and embracing new paradigms that require creative ways of thinking and planning.”

Pilgrims of hope- hope beyond borders

The central theme of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, Pilgrims of Hope, encourages the faithful to walk in hope, trusting in God’s providence as they navigate life’s uncertainties. Similarly, Hope Beyond Borders, the mission theme for the CSC, challenges individual members to expand their vision of faith and service, to recognize that hope is not confined by geography, culture, or circumstance.

According to Br. Bednarczyk, the two themes have been intertwined and highlights the universal and missionary nature of the Church. Reflecting on Hope Beyond Borders, he said, encourages members of the CSC to  serve, evangelize, and bring Christ’s love to those in need. At the same time, the theme reassures that hope is not passive but dynamic, compelling the congregation to move forward with courage and conviction and to embrace the world as a place of encounter, transformation, and renewal.

“Ultimately, Hope Beyond Borders leads us to a deeper communion with men and women everywhere who share our desire to live in ‘a more just and human societ’,” he said in his letter dated February 11.

New mission

During the year of the mission, the congregation will establish the Holy Family Mission in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.

Br. Bednarczyk said the Congregation will send 8 missionaries to staff the mission, in order to “make God known, loved, and served in a part of the world where Holy Cross has never been before.”