Twinning Updates

• Learn how to start Twinning with this helpful resource.
• In the fall, Holy Cross Mission Center Director Fr. Tom Eckert, C.S.C., wanted to honor our office’s Centennial by incentivizing Twinning relationships and fundraising efforts. To that end, the HCMC established the Bricklayers Matching Grant of up to $10,000 for any approved Twinning fundraising that is done through April 2024. Read more about it here.
• In December, Villa Maria Hall at the University of Portland raised $1,895 through their annual Villa Maria Auction for their Twinning partner, Yancana Huasy, a Holy Cross ministry for children with special needs and their families on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. A night of skits, performances, and comedy, this auction is a UP tradition dating back to 1998. With the Bricklayers Matching Grant, your efforts raised $3,790 for Yancana Huasy! Thank you to UP’s Area Coordinator Joshua Bode and his residents for their dedication.
• At the University of Notre Dame, Duncan Hall Rector Nhat Nguyen encouraged his all-male hall to raise funds for their Twinning partner, St. Joseph’s Hill Senior Secondary School in Uganda. As of December, they had raised $869.60, which will be matched by the HCMC’s Bricklayers Matching Grant for a total of $1,739.20. Well done, Duncan Hall Highlanders! (pictured above)
• Stonehill College’s club leaders will gather on January 18th for a training day, which will include an invitation for their clubs to Twin with an international Holy Cross ministry in Bangladesh, Chile, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Tanzania, or Uganda. Thank you to Student Government Executive Vice President Jessika Crockett-Murphy for inviting us to present to Stonehill’s club leaders.
• The Twinning Partnership between Christ the King Catholic Church in South Bend, Indiana, and Corpus Christi Parish in Jalchatra, Bangladesh, was recently featured in an article in Today’s Catholic. Read more about their relationship here.
• For more information about how your student group, club, team, parish, or school can participate in the HCMC’s Twinning Program, contact our Assistant Director for Community Engagement at mjezewak@holycrossusa.org to learn more.

Holy Cross priests needed for 2024 Mission Appeals!

• Find more information here about the Holy Cross Mission Center’s past and present efforts to conduct Mission Appeals for the Congregation’s international ministries. Email the HCMC at hcmc@holycrossusa.org if you are a Holy Cross priest willing to conduct Mission Appeals in the summer or fall.

Immersion Experiences for Your Holy Cross Community

• Immersion experiences: We are excited to help over 60 students from Holy Cross colleges and universities visit our international missions in the summer of 2024. If your Holy Cross parish, school, residence hall, or student group is interested in sponsoring a group visit to a Holy Cross mission, please email Michael Jezewak at mjezewak@holycrossusa.org to schedule an exploratory call.

Published: January 15, 2024