This is the core of our identity in society. For this reason, we say that we are religious of the Congregation of Holy Cross (the vows). By reading the history of our community, you will learn that our name comes from the town of Sainte-Croix in France (1840) and that our predecessors arrived from there to Montreal in 1847.

For community life to be truly lived and successful, we commit ourselves through written rules to respect three important elements:

We exclude any sexual relationships in order to preserve the quality of emotional life within the community we form.

In Montreal and Moncton, French is the primary language. The majority are of Québécois and Acadian origin. The younger members come from Haiti, India, and Bangladesh. Many speak 3 or 4 languages. In Toronto and its region, English is used. Half of the current brothers originate from India, where Canadian Holy Cross religious have been active for over 100 years.

Over the past 150 years, Holy Cross in Canada has created numerous institutions and initiatives to respond to the most urgent needs of both Canadian and international society.

Among the many social needs addressed through innovative action, we highlight:

– The Intercultural Center of Montreal
– Fides Publishing House
– Centre Maria Goretti, offering housing to young working women arriving in Montreal
– Peace Brunches at Saint Joseph’s Oratory
– Boscoville and Val Estrie for youth rehabilitation
– VOSH Santa Cruz, optometry missions for underserved populations
– Refugee resettlement for Vietnamese families
– Sidewalk cafés for people experiencing homelessness
– “Salut Terre!”, helping teenagers engage in ecological activism
– Les Jeunes Naturalistes, Canada’s first ecological youth movement
– La 20taine, a program for cultural development

Many of these initiatives have evolved over time and still continue today as non-profit organizations under new leadership teams.

We maintain active relationships with the entire Holy Cross Family, through formal meetings and joint efforts among the General Councils on heritage, mission reflection, justice and peace, and ecological issues.

Both Montreal administrations publish monthly email newsletters, as does the general administration of the men’s branch in Rome.

We also have strong ties with countries where Holy Cross from Quebec and Canada laid the foundations for the communities present today. Listed by order of establishment, they include:

– Bangladesh and Haiti (both Canadian branches)
– Brazil and India (men’s branch)
– Vietnam, Burkina Faso, and Mali (women’s branch)

Religious from Haiti, Bangladesh, and India now serve in Canada, as do Haitian, Vietnamese, and one Peruvian sister.

We operate a Mission Service to provide financial support for educational, social, and parish projects, particularly in the poorest regions where Holy Cross is present.

Orient Magazine (French only), founded in 1953 to inform and engage the public in our mission work in East Pakistan, continues to document our development work today. In November 2024, it adopted a new format and editorial direction: informing readers about projects we financially support and giving a voice to those native to the countries we serve. Orient is now published in February, May, and November.

The name Orient still reflects the mission of Christ, as proclaimed in the Benedictus:

“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us… to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

You can subscribe to Orient with any donation of $15 or more via the following link. Please indicate “Orient subscription” in the comments field.

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