Holy Cross Welfare Society

Holy Cross Welfare Society, Siolim is run by the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod (SCC), an international Catholic religious congregation founded in 1838 by Mother Claudine Echernier and Fr. Peter Mermier. The Siolim community, based at the Holy Cross Convent in Bardez, Goa, falls under the congregation's Pune Province, which covers Maharashtra and Goa and works with socially and economically backward communities whose lives are often overlooked by mainstream society. The society carries out the congregation's social apostolate through education, healthcare, and community welfare work, alongside the Holy Cross High School run at the same location.

Major Areas of Work

• Education Ministry: Running Holy Cross High School, Siolim, providing schooling that shapes children with knowledge, discipline, and compassion.
• Family and Community Care: Strengthening families through counselling, child welfare support, and women's empowerment initiatives at the community level.
• Health and Elderly Care: Supporting community health through medical camps and care for the elderly and vulnerable, in line with the congregation's wider healthcare ministry.
• Social Justice and Welfare: Promoting the dignity and wellbeing of economically backward communities in and around Siolim, Bardez.

Major Initiatives and Programs

• Holy Cross High School, Siolim, offering education under the congregation's education ministry
• Community based welfare and family support work run out of the Holy Cross Convent, Siolim
• Broader Pune Province initiatives across Maharashtra and Goa, including Maher Ashram (Pune) for destitute women and children, and a proposed Ishpremalaya palliative care hospice for terminally ill cancer patients in Sindhudurg district
• Participation in the congregation's global ministries spanning spiritual formation, healthcare, mission outreach, and youth development

Leadership The community operates under the Pune Provincial administration of the Sisters of the Cross of Chavanod, which oversees regional centres across Maharashtra and Goa, and reports up to the congregation's Superior General based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Holy Cross Welfare Society offers the chance to work within a long established, globally present religious congregation with nearly two centuries of experience in education, healthcare, and social work. Staff and collaborators in Siolim work directly alongside the Sisters in a close knit community setting, contributing to education and welfare work for economically backward families in Bardez, Goa, as part of a mission that spans 17 countries worldwide.