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Vincentian Collaboration

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Vincent de Paul was a master in getting diverse groups of people to work together.

"St. Vincent brought together as many people as he could, rich and poor, humble and powerful, and used every means to inspire in them a sensitivity to the poor, who are the privileged image of Christ." (Constitutions of the Congregation of the Missions, Introduction, p.19)

The members of the Vincentian Family place increasing emphasis today on collaborative projects.

Contents

Understanding Vincentian Collaboration

It has been said that Vincent wrote,

"The poor suffer less from a lack of generosity than from a lack of organization."
Source - #126. Charity of Women (Châtillon-les-Dombes)," Marie Poole, D.C., ed., trans., Vincent de Paul Conferences, Correspondence, and Documents (CCD), 14 vols. (New York: New City Press, 2003),13b:8. (The translation is different, but it is the source of the quote.)

The Genius of Vincent

We all know and appreciate his passion for the poor. His foundations came out of his passion for the poor.

Vincent was also a genius in organizing and networking. His passion for the poor expressed itself through an empowering humilty that invited others to share their gifts. As Fr. Robert Maloney reminds us,

"St. Vincent was adamant about this. Few saints are as concrete as Vincent de Paul. He realized that effective evangelization and service of the poor would require organization. To accomplish this end, Vincent created numerous lay groups ("The Charities") and founded two communities.
"He brought the same organizational skills to the formation of the clergy. He felt that the poor would be served well only if there were good priests to minister to them, and, to that end, he organized retreats for ordinands and priests, the Tuesday Conferences, and founded 20 seminaries.
"Nor did he stop there. He marshalled all of the resources he could find in the service of the poor: young and old, men and women, clergy and lay, the rich and the poor themselves. The seeds of his organizational gifts have continued to spread even to this day through the countless lay members of AIC, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Miraculous Medal Association, the Vincentian Marian Youth groups, and the more than 260 institutes founded in St. Vincent's spirit."

Sometimes we are too familiar with his individual accomplishments to see his genius and relevance to today. This could in effect be a kind of blindness to the power of this charism as we enter the new millennium.

Sometimes I wonder whether his genius at networking is a kind of "forgotten truth" about Vincent.

The truth is that he was convinced that others shared his vision and would be generous in their response to needs. "The poor suffer less from a lack of generosity than from a lack of organization."

The truth is that he was humble enough to ask others to help. He was not wedded to any messianic delusions, tendencies of thinking that he had to do it on his own.

The truth is that he was adept at involving others in what he saw needed to be done. He found his strength in accepting his limitations.

The truth is that so often he had the courage and the skill to walk where none had walked before. Over 375 years ago he gave women a role in the church by organizing female charitable organizations. "I have wished to give women a ministry in the Church, the ministry of charity" and again "For more or less eight hundred years women have had no public occupation in the Church. Now this same providence is appealing to some of you." (as quoted in "Like a Great Fire")

"How conscious have we been of his legacy?" is a question that needs to be asked and answered.

We have long been noted for our practical, hands-on concern for the poor. We can be grateful for this heritage which is manifested in so many ways today. One of our cousins, Sr. Theresa Capria, SC commented that in her experience "whenever 'Vincentians' get together they click and understand each other. They speak the same language of practicality. The DNA is there."

And why not? We have all been nurtured on the words "Let us love God but let it be with the sweat of our brows and the strength of our arms."

With our sense of practicality we now seem to be realizing that our service will be all the more effective to the extent we collaborate. There is a growing realization that our sweat will bear more fruit if we join hands.

To the degree we understand this aspect of Vincent we will be challenged to be more than "lone rangers" whether individually or as a Congregation in the midst of the wider family of followers of Vincent.

Vincent's gift of passionate yet humble networking and organizing corresponds to today's spirit and needs. Once again Bob suggests a "sign of the times".

"The third millennium will be the millennium of solidarity, of networking. It will also be the millennium of the laity, as Pope John Paul II has already proclaimed on numerous occasions." (Missionary, p. 24)

John Paul II once wrote to the Bishops of France:

"Many priests suffer from being on their own, from facing tasks which are beyond their strength, and this is understandable. But have they known how, through their trustfulness, to create a climate which would allow the laity to offer their help? It seems to me that you still need to aid your priests, who in other respects are so laudable, toward a better understanding of their role as animators."

In this Vincent was well ahead of his time and is still relevant to today.

Collaboration among the various branches of the Vincentian Family dates to the time of the founders.

For example, the Vincentian priests ministering at Richelieu requested two Daughters of Charity to teach there in 1638. Vincent was prudently attentive to preventing problems of co-education when boys and girls were taught together, and he sought Daughters of Charity to work along with other lay educators. His goal, like that of Elizabeth Bayley Seton was to help the students develop marketable skills for a productive adulthood.
Sometime ago I wrote . . . to find out if Mademoiselle Le Gras . . . could be so kind as to furnish a good schoolmistress for the girls in this locality [Nanteuil.] However, it is to be desired that she be able to teach them a trade, because unless that is the stipulation, the inhabitants of the district will be difficult about taking them away from the schoolmaster, where it costs scarcely anything and where they learn along with the boys. That is a dangerous thing as well, as you know.
Vincent also wrote,
"Since charity toward the neighbor is an infallible sign of the true children of God, and since one of its principal acts is to visit and bring food to the sick poor, some devout young women and virtuous inhabitants of the town of Châtillon-les-Dombes, in the Lyons diocese, wishing to obtain from God the mercy of being His true daughters, have decided among themselves to assist spiritually and corporally the people of their town who have sometimes suffered a great deal, more through a lack of organized assistance than from lack of charitable persons."

Challenge of Collaborative Projects Around the World

The challenging words that Pope John Paul II addressed to our family in 1986:

"Search out more than ever, with boldness, humility, and skill, the causes of poverty and encourage short and long term solutions ; adaptable and effective concrete solutions. By doing so, you will work for the credibility of the Gospel and of the Church." (Osservatore Romano, English Edition, August 11, 1986, p. 12).

Robert Maloney writes...

"Of course, in a family with a tradition as concrete and practical as ours, one of the great challenges for the third millennium must be collaborative projects.
These are already taking place in many, even most, of your countries. I encourage you to join forces all the more in the future.
The third millennium will be the millennium of solidarity, of networking. It will also be the millennium of the laity, as Pope John Paul II has already proclaimed on numerous occasions.
Our service of the poor will be all the more effective to the extent that we can channel our energies, which are huge, into collaborative projects. I use the word col-laborate purposely. Each of us here has a missionary vocation, the lay women, the lay men, the sisters, the priests, the brothers ) each of us. In our family there must be no rivalries, there must be no clerical domination. We must be simple, humble servants of the poor. That is why humility is so important in our Vincentian tradition. "It is the foundation of all evangelical perfection," St. Vincent said. "It is the core of the spiritual life."14 Humility is the great collaborative virtue. It never seeks to dominate. The humble person looks for God's gifts wherever they lie, receives those gifts, as a steward, and hands them on to the poor.
Recently the heads of some of the principal branches of the Vincentian Family published six collaborative projects, from different contents, as examples to stimulate other similar projects.
Some challenges:
  • Can there be similar collaborative projects in every one of our countries by this time next year? This goal is realizable within a year, I am confident.
  • Can we envision foreign missions where the missionaries are not just priests or brothers or sisters, but also single and married men and women from all the branches of our family?
  • Can we develop programs in which the poor work side by side with us, in which they share in our formation, and in our prayer, and so become a living part of our Vincentian Family?
  • Can we develop a Vincentian justice and peace network within all of our countries, and internationally too, so that we can mobilize our energies, on specific issues, in action on behalf of social justice?
Source: Vincentian Family as Missionary Robert Maloney

Statements of Vincentian Leaders

  • Regina Bechtle, SC
  • Dennis Holtschneider, CM
  • Etc

Annual Meetings of International Vincentian Family Leaders

  • [www.aic-international.org/en/ publications/meditation/daypayer27-09-2004.pdf 2004] (pdf)

Annual Day of Prayer in the Vincentian Family

PRAYER OF THE VINCENTIAN FAMILY

Lord Jesus, you who willed to become poor, give us eyes and a heart directed toward the poor; help us to recognize you in them – in their thirst, their hunger, their loneliness and their misfortune.

Enkindle within our Vincentian Family unity, simplicity, humility, and the fire of love that burned in St. Vincent de Paul.

Strengthen us, so that, faithful to the practice of these virtues, we may contemplate you and serve you in the person of the poor, and we may one day be united with you and them in your Kingdom. Amen.

International Meetings Focused on the Vincentian Family

Each group present was asked to respond to the following two questions. What may your Association offer VMY? And, what may it expect from VMY?
The responses were from
Sr. Evelyne Franc, DC Mother General
Marina Costa, International President AIC
Fr. Gregory Gay, Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission
Manuel Benitez, Miraculous Medal National Council of Spain
David Sanz, MISEVI International Coordinating Team
Jose Ramon Diaz-Torremocha, SSVDP International President
Fr. Manuel GInete, CM, Delegate for the Vincentian Family Internatioal

International Collaborative Projects

Description of Six International Projects

Jubilee Declaration on Behalf of the Poor - (2000)

Hunger Project (2001)

"...after much reflection on the various urgent forms of poverty in the world today, we decided to focus as a family, from September 27, 2001 to September 27, 2003, on a single issue: hunger. The motto we will use during this period is: “The Globalization of Charity: Fight Against Hunger.”
As a response to this call, many branches of the Vincentian Family have developed projects and resources to assist in this effort. There is a powerpoint presentation available to demonstrate the issues involved in this campaign.
We also pray with one voice for the healing of this injustice in the distribution of resources in the world today.

Malaria Project (2003)

Miscellaneous Projects

This is but a beginning list.

National/Regional Collaborative Projects

Providing research, leadership development and collaboration in the manner of St. Vincent, the de Paul Project ensures the continuance of the legacy of St. Vincent de Paul’s organizational genius and leadership skills in the service of others.


This is but a beginning list. Please send notice of omissions to freundj@stjohns.edu

Vincentian Family Days of Prayer

National/Regional Family Gatherings

ENGLISH SPEAKING


This is but a beginning list. Please send notice of omissions to freundj@stjohns.edu

Official Statements of Various Branches

Congregation of the Mission

Vincentian Marian Youth

Collaboration with the Vincentian Family
- We believe that it is very important for each VMY National or Provincial Council to participate (or help create where it does not exist yet) in the Vincentian Family Councils. We can contribute something to this process and we have so much to learn from the other branches.
- This year we would like to spread the Vincentian Family Triptych and hope that each country may come up with a national version that may allow the different branches to know each other’s charism (you may download the international version from our webpage.)
- To motivate this collaboration further, we wish that you may share to as many members as possible the pamphlet which contains the talks of the Vincentian Family International representatives during the Round Table Discussion in the 2nd AG 2005. This will be made available in our website within two month’s time. We request you to study them in the different levels of the Association in order to come up with concrete proposals and commitments. Perhaps the Directory of Some Branches of the Vincentian Family prepared by the CM Curia may also help you in this reflection. We shall be sending it to you during the 2nd semester of 2006.
From a letter of the President January 31, 2006

AIC

This is but a beginning list. Please send notice of omissions to freundj@stjohns.edu

Society of St. Vincent dePaul

Daughters of Charity

Federation of the Sisters of Charity in the Vincentian and Setonian Tradition

Sr. Gertrude Foley, former Regional Superior of the Greensburg Sisters of Charity writes,
"I believe that the idea of building a network among Vincentians, Daughters and Sisters of Charity, Ladies of Charity, and the St. Vincent dePaul Society is to restore something essential in our tradition (Epnhasis added). The centuries that saw the separation of our efforts were a detour on our journey. Many historical events can account for these separations and distinctions, and as St. Vincent would say, it is all in God's Providence." (Presentation to "Vincentian Visioning 2000" at St. John's University, April 19, 1997)

Miscellaneous

History of Vincentian Family Gatherings in the US

Retreat Centers Catering to Vincentian Family

Pioneers Fostering Vincentian Family Collaboration

A list could also be developed featuring people in more or less full time ministry to branches other than their own.

  • Etc.



Further Resources

The presentation is based on the work of Loughlin Sofield, ST Trinitarians and Carol Juliano in their book, Collaboration: Uniting Our Gifts in Ministry
  • VINCENTIANA Issue devoted to the 39th General Assembly 1998
Political, Social and Economic Issues Facing the Vincentian Family at the Dawning of the Third Millennium
Meta Collab’s primary objectives are to:
1. create a continuously developing repository of knowledge surrounding collaboration;
2. develop a community of researchers and individuals interested in furthering an understanding of collaboration; and to
3. work towards the development of a general theory of collaboration.
Retrieved from "http://www.famvin.org/wiki/Vincentian_Collaboration"