The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross started in 1984 with the name of Academic Roman Centre of the Holy Cross with 41 students.  

In 1998, after having developed 4 faculties and an Institute of Advanced Religious Studies with 1,100 students, Pope John Paul II raised the Centre to a Pontifical University. Classrooms are in Piazza di Sant’ Apollinare in the heart of Rome. The Library is located a block away in Via dei Farnesi, which contains 130,000 catalogued books and over 1,000 journals.

Thousands of men and women from 95 countries have received formation since 1984. Today, over 70 graduates of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross have been made Bishops.  

The Santa Croce confronts the challenges of today's world by viewing areas of concern as opportunities, forming men and women — seminarians, priests, religious, and lay persons —  with a profound and intellectually sound faith to enable entry into dialogue with modernity.

Academic activities are open to scholars and intellectuals from the economic, scientific, philosophical, and political fields, thus providing the holistic elements necessary for a true dialog with the world.

The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross has four faculties:

1. Theology with branches in dogmatic, moral and spiritual theology, history of the Church and liturgy.
2. Canon Law
3. Philosophy with branches in ethics and science, metaphysics and epistemology
4. Institutional Social Communications

The Institute for Advanced Religious Studies also forms part of the Pontifical University. Each faculty grants Bachelors’, Licentiates and Doctoral degrees. 

Excerpts from an address of the Rector of Pontifical University at the opening of academic year October 2023 to June 2024:

”…thanks to the support of many benefactors..., we have witnessed progressive academic maturity.”

“More than 7,000 Clergy, laity, and individuals living a consecrated life, both men and women, who studied in Santa Croce, are now scattered across the five continents, serving their particular Churches in parishes, seminaries, diocesan curiae… all dedicated to bringing Christ into…contemporary society”.

The Australian Foundation for the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is a Trust established in April 1999 with the sole objective of financially assisting the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in research and scholarship grants for seminarians, priests, religious and laity involved in evangelization activities. It has funded 65 scholarship grants to date.

The Foundation has been fully supported by contributions of many benefactors, including non-Christians in the past. We need more donations to be able to fund more scholarship grants.