An Overview of Holy Cross Higher Education in America today

Together, with 8 in total, there are 6 colleges and universities affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross priests and brothers in the United States today: University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN; St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX; University of Portland in Portland, OR; King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA; Stonehill College in Easton, MA; and Holy Cross College in South Bend, IN. In addition, the women of Holy Cross sponsor two institutions in the United States: Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, IN sponsored by the Sisters of the Holy Cross; and University of Holy Cross in New Orleans, LA sponsored by the Marianites of Holy Cross.

What is a "Holy Cross school?"

So what do we mean when we say that a certain college or university is a “Holy Cross school?” Does that mean that Holy Cross owns the school? That the school does things in a Holy Cross way?

In the 19th century–when many Catholic colleges were established in the United States–through the 1960s, Catholic religious communities–like Holy Cross–owned, administered, and essentially staffed their own schools. They were what we call “apostolates” of the Catholic Church, meaning that the Church–through individual religious communities–was responsible for their oversight, financial management, and staffing. Even though many of these institutions employed lay faculty and staff–the direction of the institutions was determined by the religious communities themselves.

In the 1960s, a group of Catholic Higher Education administrators (led by then University of Notre Dame president and Holy Cross Priest Fr. Ted Hesburgh, CSC) met to discuss the future of these Catholic institutions of higher education. They believed that Catholic colleges and universities could contribute to the academy and marketplace of ideas on an equal playing field with other research, land grant, and professional schools. They believed that Catholic institutions provided a unique educational experience that was essential for keeping society rooted in the common good. At the same time, they realized that their institutions were limited by the administrative structures that kept these institutions primarily serving the Church alone. In order to allow these institutions to truly serve the world from their Catholic identity and mission, this group committed to turning over their institutions to the wisdom, expertise, and care of Boards of Trustees or Directors that would independently guide each institution.

This statement came to be known as the Land O'Lakes Statement: The Idea of a Catholic University (1967).

These administrators did not desire to separate their institutions from the Catholic Church–rather they believed that these Catholic institutions could create a pathway for the Catholic Church to speak to the world, by becoming centers of free exchange of ideas guided by the values and principles of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition. Not all faculty, staff, and students would be Catholic, but at the same time the institution would always take seriously the spiritual reality of the world, and put theology in dialogue with all academic disciplines, striving to go beyond mere empirical knowledge to discover ultimate truth, meaning, and purpose.

This innovation brought together the unique development of Catholic institutions of higher learning in Europe rooted in the Catholic Intellectual tradition and the American educational model that combines undergraduate education and academic research.

While this move was adopted by almost all Catholic colleges and universities in the United States, it is not a coincidence that this shift was led by a Holy Cross priest. Blessed Basil Moreau believed strongly that a Holy Cross education should educate the mind with cutting edge knowledge and research. He believed that a Catholic education should pursue truth, not by limiting access to any knowledge or fields of study, but by providing students exposure to all fields and providing them the analytical skills to seek truth within each. This education was to always be accompanied by solid human and spiritual formation that ensured the students were being formed into not only good citizens of their communities, but also one day true citizens of heaven.

This is the foundation that guides all Holy Cross schools in the United States today. Holy Cross maintains a strong presence at each of our affiliated institutions–each having unique bylaws that articulate what this relationship looks like. Some stipulate that the president will always be a Holy Cross religious. Some note that a specific number of the board members must be Holy Cross priests and brothers. All maintain a commitment, however, to the educational vision of Basil Moreau–a vision that is lived out by both religious and lay collaborators who share in the work of education, administration, and formation at these institutions.

But even with this common grounding, each institution serves a specific mission. From the beginning–Holy Cross strived to serve the local area to which God called its Religious. As Holy Cross spread throughout the world–and the United States–it became clear that the educational needs of one region were not the same as the educational needs of another.

So while Holy Cross priests, brothers, and sisters continue to minister as educators in the faith wherever they are called, place was always an important consideration as they built their institutions.

8 Institutions, and 8 different ways of connecting to Holy Cross

Six of these institutions in the United States are founded by the priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross, while two are sponsored by the women’s Congregations. It might be helpful here for us to illustrate the organizational differences of these entities.

Although we all claim the same founder, Blessed Basil Moreau, the Priests and Brothers are organizationally–canonically and legally separate and distinct congregations from the sisters of Holy Cross. This is an important distinction because as Holy Cross grew throughout the United States, these separate congregations were responding to the distinct needs of the areas where they served.

You can think of us as cousins, of sorts. Still part of the same family, but with particularly important variations in how we approach education and our sponsorship relationship with our institutions.

As articulated in the 2018 Chapter of the US Province of the Congregation of Holy Cross, we believe that "a Catholic education in the Holy Cross tradition transforms minds and hearts with zeal in communities of hope" (2018 Chapter Legislation, Recommendation 5).

A Reflection on Holy Cross Education by Fr. Gerry Olinger, CSC

"Moreau’s approach was distinctive in the period following the French Revolution when he established the Congregation of Holy Cross and this approach retains its distinctiveness today. Throughout the country, if not the world, the education of youth has become bifurcated. On one hand, there are schools that focus exclusively on the education of the minds of students and provide little or no guidance or training for their character. On the other hand, there are schools that focus their energies primarily on those experiences that strongly emphasize religious and moral guidelines, often at the expense of academic and intellectual growth.

Moreau, however, sought balance. “We do not want our students to be ignorant of anything they should know,” he wrote. He stressed that his schools had to have both the highest intellectual standards and an intense focus on the formation of students’ character. And this development of both the intellect and character can only happen when the faculty and staff of Holy Cross schools are in relationship with their students. It is living and walking with students that this development and formation happen (family model of Holy Cross).

As a result, schools guided by the Congregation of Holy Cross have developed approaches and characteristics that are unique in higher education. Often this dual approach involves great cost. Certainly it is counter cultural. And historically it has defied easy articulation."

Content courtesy of the Moreau Mission Collaborative, US Province of Priests and Brothers - Congregation of Holy Cross.

Authored by Rev. Ricky Bevington, CSC (2025).

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