The Beginnings of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul

In the midst of the political, social, religious, and economic turmoil of early 19th century France, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul originated. As a young student at the Sorbonne, Antoine Frédéric Ozanam was appalled by the conditions he saw in Paris. At a student meeting, another student challenged Ozanam and other practicing Catholics, admitting that while the Catholic Church had done much good work in the past, he could not see what good the Church was doing currently.

On April 23, 1833, his 20th birthday, Ozanam invited five other students to a meeting, where they founded the first Conference of Charity to assist the poor. This Catholic lay organization was intended to help members increase in holiness by loving service to those in need.

The six students chose Emmanuel Bailly, a married layman, as their first president. Shortly thereafter, they changed their name to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in honor of their patron saint.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the United States

Just 12 years after its founding in France, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul established roots in the United States. On November 20, 1845, the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul was established in St. Louis, Missouri at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, popularly called “The Old Cathedral.”

Several people were instrumental in the Society’s growth and development in the U.S., including Father John Timon, an American Vincentian priest from Pennsylvania who brought copies of the Rule of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul from Dublin, Ireland, to St. Louis. Timon spoke with various people about the Society’s work with the poor, including Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick. Kenrick asked Father Ambrose Heim, known for extraordinary zeal and ministry with the poor, to establish the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and be its spiritual advisor. Father Heim became known as “The Priest of the Poor.”

The Conference was formally recognized by the Society’s International Council in Paris on February 2, 1846, and would never have opened without the dedicated laypeople who accepted the initial invitation to become members and serve the poor.

With nearly 90,000 Vincentian volunteers serving their communities, today’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul works in 4,428 parish-based Conferences across the United States. Our founding activity, still practiced today, is the Home Visit in which Vincentians visit the homes of those they serve, to identify both immediate and longer-term needs, including emergency assistance with utilities, rent, food, and clothing.

Vincentians join together in a bond of friendship and grow spiritually by offering person to person service to those who are in need and suffering. Through our ministry we share with others a glimpse of Jesus and give witness to our faith.

Resurrection Conference

Our conference first met in the fall of 2006 and was commissioned on the Feast of the Epiphany in January of 2007. Our General Conference Meetings are held on the third Monday of the month. Volunteers answer telephone calls to our Helpline Mondays through Fridays throughout the year. Our work is supported through the generosity of our fellow parishioners, grants, and fundraising efforts of our members.

Our Leadership

Brian DeMarchi - President

Marge Gaffney - Vice President

Kathy Muller - Treasurer

Betty Jewell - Secretary

Marcia Konieczka - Corresponding Secretary

Bonnie Smyth - Spiritual Advisor