Congregation of Holy Cross’ Mission Receives the Francis of Assisi and Carlo Acutis for an Economy of Fraternity International Award

Br. Adolf Mugume, C.S.C., Director of Communications, Italy

In this year of the 800th death anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi, on Sa turday, May 16th, the Congregation of Holy Cross’ Holy Family Mission in the diocese of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, was awarded the “Francis of Assisi and Carlo Acutis for an Economy of Fraternity” International Award to create a “brotherhood hub”. The ceremony took place in the Hall of Spoliation in the Italian town of Assisi, as part of the ninth anniversary of the establishment of the Shrine of the Spoliation of Assisi.

Hantoa Fraternity Hub in Papua New Guinea

The award goes to support the creation of the Hantoa Fraternity Hub, an entrepreneurial community center that through the Katholik Women’s Association of Christ the King Parish in Hantoa will provide women opportunities to work together in solidarity to support themselves and their families. It will include a restaurant, tailoring workshop, and a vegetable garden. The goal is to create a collective savings mechanism that guarantees long-term self-sufficiency and, in the process, becomes a model of an economy of fraternity for the entire Pacific region. It is precisely this type of work, supporting men and women of grace and goodwill everywhere in their efforts to form communities of the coming kingdom, that motivated the Congregation of Holy Cross to approach Propaganda Fide in 2022 to ask where it might best serve the needs of the Church. There was a desire to heed the call of Pope Francis “to go out to the peripheries.” 

Drawing the Peripheries into the Heart

The Congregation of Holy Cross captured this spirit by celebrating a special Year of Mission that coincided both with the establishment of the new mission, which was named for the Holy Family, and also the great Jubilee Year of 2025. The year’s theme was to share a “Hope Beyond Borders”, for our mission sends us across borders of every sort. Often we must make ourselves at home among more than one people or culture, reminding us again that the farther we go in giving the more we stand to receive. Now, Holy Cross’ going out on mission to Bougainville at the call of the Church has formed a bridge, connecting Bougainville to Assisi through the International Award, Francis and Carlo Acutis for an Economy of Fraternity. Holy Cross’ mission has drawn the peripheries into the heart of the Church, as Pope Francis always envisioned. 

“The Hantoa Fraternity Hub’s reception of the Francis of Assisi and Carlo Acutis International Award affirms that the margins of the world are its center,” said the Most Rev. Dariusz Kaluska, Bishop of the Diocese of Bougainville, who participated in the award ceremony via Zoom. “On a small Pacific island, people witness community life and dream of a better future for their children and life. This reflects Pope Francis’s teachings and his desire for the Church and us. For communities that have long lived in the shadow of conflict, economic exclusion, and geographic isolation, that visibility carries immense spiritual weight. It declares: ‘You are not forgotten. You are not peripheral. You are, in the logic of the Gospel, exactly where transformation begins,’” continued the bishop.

“Francis and Carlo Acutis for an Economy of Fraternity” Award

Instituted by the Italian Diocese of Assisi in 2020, the year of the beatification of Carlos Acutis, the Francis and Carlo Acutis for an Economy of Fraternity Award “aims to encourage fraternal economic projects ‘from below,’ beginning with the difficult conditions faced by our suffering and least brothers and sisters. It honors projects advancing economic models rooted in human dignity, social inclusion, and environmental care. This year there 78 applications from 31 different nations, submitted in five different languages. This is an important moment to mature projects and ideas for a different and supportive economy, capable of overturning the pyramid, starting not from the strongest, but from the weakest,” said the Most Rev. Felice Accrocca, Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino and of Foligno. “May this small seed make a great tree sprout, like the mustard seed of the Gospel. This is the hope that we launch today, and we trust that the Lord will make it his own.”

Men with Hope to Bring

Hope is at the center of the Congregation of Holy Cross’ charism, and hope, of course, is at the center of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that the Church seeks to share with the world.  “In his message for the ninth World Day for the Poor, Pope Leo expressed his hope that the Jubilee Year would encourage the implementation of ‘new initiatives to support and assist the poorest of the poor,’” said Br. Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., Superior General. “On behalf of the Congregation of Holy Cross, I express my sincere gratitude to all who are associated with the award and for partnering with us in responding to the Holy Father’s challenge with your generous support of the Hantoa Fraternity Hub. As Holy Cross religious we say that we are ‘men with hope to bring.’ With this prestigious award, we have become much more. We have become together with you and the women of the Hantoa Parish, true Pilgrims of Hope. What a joy! What a blessing!” said Br. Bednarczyk.