The Connecticut-native Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., has been chosen as the Congregation of Holy Cross’ superior general. He is the first non-priest to serve as the congregation’s leader, as permitted by a reform to church law that Pope Francis approved.
“I am humbled and grateful for the confidence and trust of my brothers in Holy Cross for allowing me the privilege to serve as their Superior General,” he said in a statement after his July 1 election by the congregation’s general chapter.
The Congregation of Holy Cross was founded in France in 1837 by Blessed Basile Moreau, a priest who grew up during the French Revolution. The congregation has two separate societies for religious brothers and religious priests, which its constitutions say are “bound together in one indivisible brotherhood.” Its members work, pray, and live united by a “common founder, tradition, rule, government, way of life, and mission.”
Pope Francis authorised an exception to this law, and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life declared in May 2022 that the congregation would be permitted to offer exceptions at its discretion.
The modification matched a change made by Pope Francis to permit “any member of the faithful”—rather than simply clergy—to serve as the head of a dicastery of the Roman Curia.
On July 4, the Vatican confirmed Bednarczyk’s election.
“The Holy Father’s decision to allow a brother to serve as Supreme Moderator in a mixed congregation of priests and brothers is an unprecedented affirmation and validation of the religious brother’s vocation in the Church,” Bednarczyk commented.
According to the Holy Cross Congregation, both the priest and brother members have a common sense of dignity. Both the general chapters and the governing general council of the congregation are composed of an equal number of priests and brothers.
Bednarczyk was born in New Haven and earned his high school diploma from West Haven’s Notre Dame High School in 1975. He pursued his vocation through the Eastern Province of Brothers of the community, receiving his education in Easton, Massachusetts’ Moreau Hall at Stonehill College.
In 1979, Bednarczyk made his first vows at Bennington, Vermont’s Sacred Heart Church. In 1985, he made his last vows at the St. Joseph Center in Valatie, New York.
He graduated from Stonehill College with a bachelor’s in English and Fordham University with a master’s in religion and religious education.
He served as a teacher, administrator, and campus minister for twelve years at Bishop McNamara High School in Forestville, Maryland, and Notre Dame International School in Rome, Italy. He was a member of the provincial council, the vocation director, and the formation director for his province.
A group of more than 900 religious vocation directors from 15 nations, the National Religious Vocation Conference, appointed him executive director in 2002. Bednarczyk served as a consultant to the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in this capacity.
He has held a position on the advisory board of the abuse prevention consulting company Praesidium Religious Services.
Additionally, he has held positions on the corporate board of Holy Cross Family Ministries, which encourages Catholic prayer and spirituality for families, as well as a number of international Holy Cross commissions.
He belongs to the Austin, Texas-based Moreau Province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.
On July 8, Bednarczyk takes on his duties as the Congregation of Holy Cross’ fourteenth superior general. He takes over as superior general from Wisconsin-born Fr. Robert L. Epping, C.S.C., who has held the position since 2016.