The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the Sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.
Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Named after St. Vincent de Paul
Founded April 23, 1833; 186 years ago
Founder Blessed Frederic Ozanam Mr. Emmanuel Bailly
Focus Sanctification of members through service of the poor
Area served153 Countries
Innumerable Catholic parishes have established “conferences”, most of which affiliate with a diocesan council. Among its varied efforts to offer material help to the poor or needy, the Society also has thrift stores which sell donated goods at a low price and raise money for the poor. There are a great variety of outreach programs sponsored by the local conferences and councils, addressing local needs for social services.
Contents
The society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 to help impoverished people living in the slums of Paris, France. The primary figure behind the society’s founding was Blessed Frederic collaborated with Emmanuel Bailly, editor of the Tribune Catholique, in reviving a student organization that had been suspended during the revolutionary activity of July 1830. Ozanam was 20 years old when he founded the Society. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1997. Emmanuel Bailly was chosen as the first President.
The Society took Saint Vincent de Paul as its patron under the influence of Sister Rosalie Rendu, DC. Sister Rosalie, beatified in November 1999 by Pope John Paul II, was a member of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, earlier known for her work with people in the slums of Paris. She guided Frederic and his companions in their approach to those in need.
Blessed Rosalie Rendu, DC SVP gradually expanded outside Paris in the mid-19th century and received benefactors in places such as Tours where figures such as the Venerable Leo Dupont, known as the Holy Man of Tours, became collaborators.
The Society is part of the Vincentian Family which also includes two congregations found by St. Vincent de Paul – the Congregation of the Mission with Vincentian priests and brothers and the ladies of Charity – along with the Sisters of Charity in the Setonian tradition and several others, including some religious groups the are part of the Anglican Communion Like the Company of Mission Priests.
UNITED STATES
The Society’s first Conference in the United States was established in 1845 in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Basilica of St. Louis King of France, or “Old Cathedral”. Fr. John Timon, CM, had learned of the Society while visiting with his Vincentian superiors in Paris. From Dublin, Ireland, he brought to St. Louis copies of the SVP Rule. On November 16, 1845, Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick dedicated the new St. Vincent de Pau church on South Eighth Street and invited Timon to preach. Timon discussed the society in his sermon, in the presence of prominent laymen who took hold of the idea and held an organizational meeting on November 20, 1845. The conference included Dr. Moses Linton, founder of the St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, and as chair Judge Bryan Mullanphy who would become mayor of St. Louis. Bishop Kenrick appointed Fr. Ambrose Heim as spiritual advisor to the Conference.