Philippines

In 1952, Servant of God, Fr. Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., arrived in the Philippines to launch the Family Rosary Crusade in the country. An instant connection formed between the “Rosary Priest” and the Filipino people who refer to themselves as el Pueblo Amante de María (the People Beloved of Mary).

Especially in the later years of his life, Fr. Peyton would spend several months each year in the Philippines conducting diocesan missions and deepening the people’s devotion to Mary. By the time of Fr. Peyton’s death in 1992, the Congregation’s Family Rosary Crusade was firmly established in the country, producing its own Television and radio programming and supporting prayer and service groups in many parishes in the country.

For almost two decades, the work of Family Rosary Crusade in the Philippines was carried out by the Congregation’s lay colleagues in collaboration with Holy Cross Family Ministries in the United States. Then in 2008, the Congregation opened a house in the country and sent a Holy Cross religious from India to assist with the work of the Crusade. The Philippines has also become a preferred place for the Congregation’s religious in Asia to study for advanced degrees, given its strong Catholic universities.