Asia

Where We Serve

In 1851, Propaganda Fide, the Vatican congregation that oversees the Church’s missionary work, asked Blessed Basil Moreau if Holy Cross would assume responsibility for the Church’s mission in East Bengal. Whereas other congregations had refused because of the region’s poverty and difficult climate, Moreau accepted. After the first group to set sail was forced to turn back in December 1852 due to a storm, a second group of priests, brothers, and sisters arrived to Calcutta on May 20, 1853. They made their way to Dhaka and Noakhali by June.

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Bangladesh

Established in 1853.

India

Established in 1853.

Philippines

Established in 1952.

Notable Holy Cross Missionary in Asia

Servant of God Theotonius Ganguly

Archbishop Theotonius Amal Ganguly was born in Hashnabad, which is in present-day Bangladesh, on Feb. 18, 1920, the feast day of his patron saint, St. Theotonius. His family added the Bengali name Amal, which means “spotless” or “innocent.”

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Portrait of Ganguly
Young Flavian Laplante

Notable Holy Cross Missionary in Asia

Servant of God Flavian Laplante

Br. Flavian Laplante, C.S.C., was born on July 27, 1907, in St.-Louis-de-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada. He was the seventh child of nine to Honoré Laplante and Louise Théroux, who named him Doria.

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“May love of God and of neighbor be the inspiration that urges us on to greater efforts in the service first of God and then of our fellow men.”

Servant of God Theotonius Ganguly

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