Photos provided by the Holy Cross Mission Center
At the Casa San José (Saint Joseph House of Formation) in Canto Grande, Peru, the chapel is the heart of the community, where members of the Congregation of Holy Cross gather three times daily for prayer. After more than 25 years without extensive renovation, the chapel roof had sustained structural damage and required complete replacement.
Through a $52,000 grant administered by the Holy Cross Mission Center in May 2026, the project began in July 2026. The chapel roof was replaced, and the interior was renovated. Improvements included skylights, new lighting, heat insulation, two air conditioning units, repaired windows and doors, and a system to channel rainwater toward the garden.
These improvements have renewed a space central to the spiritual lives of the young men preparing for religious life. Rev. Jim Gutierrez, C.S.C., Casa San José’s director of formation, described the renovated chapel as providing “a better space to pray, to encounter the Lord Jesus Christ, who sustains the vocation of each of the young men in formation in the Congregation in Peru.”
On July 11, 2026, the Congregation of Holy Cross in Peru celebrated the blessing of the renovated chapel alongside the admission of Kevin Torres Rafael to the postulancy. The celebration offered a meaningful reminder of the chapel’s purpose: to remain a place where the community gathers in prayer and where young men are accompanied as they discern their vocation and grow closer to Christ.
Provided by Delila Baca, Holy Cross Mission Center Project Coordinator, October 2026
