Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C. will deliver the commencement address at Holy Cross College’s 58th Commencement Ceremony for the graduating Class of 2025.
Bednarczyk is the superior general of the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the first brother to serve as the superior general of one of the Catholic Church’s clerical institutes. In a press release, the College wrote that Bednarczyk “brings an inspiring legacy of faith, education and service to this year’s Commencement.”
After beginning his formation at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass., he took his first vows in 1979 at Sacred Heart Church in Vermont and his final vows at St. Joseph Center in New York. He graduated from Stonehill College with a bachelor’s degree in English and from Fordham University with a master’s degree in religion and religious education, the press release shared.
According to the press release, Bednarczyk spent 12 years as a teacher, campus minister and administrator at Notre Dame International School in Rome and Bishop McNamara High School in Maryland before shifting to a leadership role in vocation ministry for the brothers of the Holy Cross.
He then served as vocation director for his province and then executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference, founding the National Fund for Catholic Religious Vocations during his time in the role. In 2016, he became the first general assistant and vicar of the Congregation of the Holy Cross before his election to superior general.
“I am delighted to be invited by Holy Cross College to give this year’s commencement address. Given the many challenges that our world faces today, I desire to bring to the graduates a message of hope for themselves and the world they are about to enter,” Bednarczyk told the College.
Holy Cross College President Marco Clark discussed the work and virtues of Bednarczyk made him an ideal commencement speaker.
“Following the example of Jesus, Brother Paul has spent his life in ministry working with zeal to make God known, loved and served. Brother Paul is the embodiment of the virtues that we espouse at Holy Cross—a lifelong scholar, courageous citizen, virtuous leader and hopeful disciple,” Clark said in the press release.
