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

The Society in the United States

While historians differ on how the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was introduced into the United States, all agree that it was established at the “Old Cathedral” (the Church of St. Louis of France), St. Louis, Missouri, in 1845. Both laity and clergy played important roles in its foundation.

Father John Timon, C.M., an American Vincentian priest, later Bishop of Buffalo, New York, brought the Society’s Rule in English from Ireland; he, in turn, gave a copy to Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick. Bishop Kenrick asked Father Ambrose Heim, one of his diocesan priests stationed at the Old Cathedral, to establish a Conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Father Heim was known by the people of St. Louis for his extraordinary zeal and ministry with the poor.

The first official meeting of the Society in the United States was held on November 20, 1845. Dr. Moses Linton, a prominent physician and convert to the faith, was elected President of the nascent group. Bryan Mullanphy, widely known for his philanthropy, served as Vice President.

Application for affiliation with the Society in Paris followed quickly, and the American Conference was aggregated by the Council General on February 2, 1846.

Just as the Society had spread throughout France with such rapidity, so did it spread throughout the United States. The chief promoters of the Society were the American bishops, many of whom personally established the Society in their dioceses.

Early foundations included New York City and Buffalo 1847, Milwaukee 1849, Philadelphia 1851, Pittsburgh 1852, Louisville 1853, Brooklyn 1855, St. Paul 1856, Chicago and Washington D.C. 1857, New Orleans 1858, Dubuque 1859, San Francisco 1860, Boston 1861, Baltimore 1864, Cleveland 1865, Cincinnati and Portland, OR 1869, San Antonio 1871, and Detroit 1884. New York City organized the first District Council in the United States in March, 1857.

Council of the United States

After 1860, several major Society centers developed and reported directly to the international headquarters in Paris. From time to time, General Assemblies of the Society were convened. The first took place in New York in 1864. In 1915, the seven major independent jurisdictions – New York, St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn – agreed to form a single national body. The Superior Council of the United States was officially instituted by Paris on June 7, 1915.

Formal inauguration ceremonies took place at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on November 21, 1915. Thomas Mulry, “the American Ozanam,” served as the Council’s first President. He died the following year and was succeeded by George Gillespie, who held the position for almost thirty-six years and, under whom, the Society experienced notable growth.

Each of the succeeding National Presidents of the Council of the United States has been associated with a particular phase of Vincentian organization or activity as well as its expansion. The story of the Society in the United States constitutes a significant chapter in Catholic social action and the Catholic Charities movement. In the beginning, Vincentian efforts were largely parish-based. These contacts, however, acquainted membership with the broader needs and problems of immigrants and others. Solicitude for immigrants impelled Vincentians to investigate and try to change conditions in public life that were prejudicial to the faith of Catholics. The Society founded or helped to establish such institutions as the Catholic Protectory in New York, the Industrial School for Boys in Chicago, and St. Vincent’s Home for Boys in New Orleans. The Society founded boys’ clubs, libraries, and home-finding bureaus; they worked with juvenile officers to provide rehabilitation rather than punitive care for errant youngsters.

Just as the Society was first to challenge public child-care policies hostile to the rights of Catholic children, so also was the Society among the first to recognize the many genuine contributions of non-Catholics and secular organizations and to effect with such groups sound and cordial working relationships.

The late Msgr. John O’Grady, a significant leader of Catholic Charities in the United States, credits the Society with being a prime originator and sustaining force in developing among Catholics a consciousness of national socio-religious problems and the need for a national response. The Society is continuing this commitment to social justice through its National Committee, Voice of the Poor. Vincentians became, in fact, the backbone of the National Conference of Catholic Charities when it was first established in 1910. The two organizations have maintained strong ties throughout their separate but closely associated histories.

1.3 The Rule

The founding members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul immediately realized that the growth of the Society from a single Conference into an organization of many Conferences necessitated regulations that would help preserve the objectives and spirit of the original foundation. In 1835, two years after founding, the Society formulated its Rule, a series of Articles, based upon the practical experiences of the first Vincentians. They emulated their patron, St. Vincent de Paul, who also had waited before he wrote the Rule for his priests and brothers, and the Rule of the Daughters of Charity, thereby basing the Rule upon their lived-out experiences. The Rule of the Society has continued as the guide and blueprint for the Society for more than a hundred and seventy years. This, alone, is a tribute to its efficacy and to the Spirit who inspired it.

All groups require rules for effective operation. Our Rule is internationally approved and drawn from the lives and experience of all Vincentians throughout the world. It describes the elements that are needed to maintain the unity of the Society. In truth, the Rule has kept us bound together in solidarity with Vincentians locally, nationally, and internationally.

Adherence to the Rule
The Rule applies to every member of the Society. The International Council General’s position on compliance with the Rule is as follows:
“Our Society is a free and fraternal association. No one can be compelled to remain in it against one’s will. Therefore, a member, Council, or Conference choosing to belong to the Society must be in accord with the Rule in every respect, in particular to:

• 
  Give evidence of spiritual and moral adhesion to the mission, vision, and values of our Vincentian vocation.
  
• 
  Attend the meetings of the Society.
  
• 
  Produce regular reports on the various activities.
  
• 
  Contribute, in a spirit of solidarity, to the expenses of the next higher Council which, in turn, will fulfill its duties.”
  

The Rule is not restrictive but liberating and life-giving. It expresses who we are, what we are, where we have been, and who we want to be. The Rule should neither be ignored nor worshipped, but rather held up as an expression of oneness with Vincentians worldwide. It should be the rallying point for our celebrations and thanksgiving.

The Rule is stable but not static. Additions were made in 1839. When the Society’s growth made clear the need for national structure, a section on Superior Councils was added to the Rule in 1850. Articles with respect to Central or (Arch)Diocesan Councils were formulated in 1856. When Vincentian experience revealed the need for clarification or reinterpretation, Commentaries to the individual Articles of the original Rule were introduced. On several occasions – in 1935, for example, and again in 1953 – a thorough reworking of Rules and Commentaries was undertaken by the Council General in Paris. Substance was not affected. One could readily discern the Rule of the 1870s in the Society’s Rule and Commentaries of the 1950s, the1970s and now into the new millennium with the Rule approved in 2003.

The Rule – Revised and Approved in 1973

New influences surfaced in the 1960s. The President General of the Society, Pierre Chouard (1955-69), put before the Society a challenging program of “renewal” based on considerations of spirituality, universality, extension, youth, training, adaptation, and cooperation. The Society throughout the world responded enthusiastically to the challenge of the renewal program. The directives of the Second Vatican Council (1963-65) brought about a further intensification of effort. This renewal was eventually translated into a rethinking of the Society’s Rule. Following worldwide Vincentian study, the Council General in 1968 adopted a five-year experimental Rule. This revision formalized certain changes that had been taking place in Vincentian thinking and practice. For example, provision was made for the admission of women and for fixed periods of presidential office. The notion of the Vincentian Family -- the Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul -- embracing those serving and those served was promulgated.

In 1973, at the International Assembly in Dublin, Ireland, the findings of the International Commission on the Rule were reviewed and debated. The move from experimentation to articulation of a modern Rule was then approved.
At its National Meeting in Cincinnati, September 1975, the Council of the United States adopted the General Council’s working model for Conferences and Councils and decided to create Commentaries to accompany it. A committee chaired by former National President T. Raber Taylor presented the proposed Commentaries at the National Meeting in Atlanta, September 1978. Revised and then adopted in Chicago at the Midyear Meeting in April 1979, this version of the Rule and Commentaries guided the Society until 2003.


The Rule – Revised and Approved in 2003
At the beginning of the new millennium, an International Committee once again was assigned to study and renew the Rule. Since the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is called to carry on a ministry in the Church, it is held accountable for the grace that has been handed down since 1833. The wisdom of the Church mandates the establishment of the mission, spirituality, accountability, and governance of all Church organizations. The Rule and Statutes define the policies and procedures by which the mission and ethos of the Society are translated into everyday operations, providing a framework for every Vincentian in the world.
The Rule consists of three parts:
Part I: The Rule of the International Confederation of

St. Vincent de Paul

Part II: Statutes of the International Confederation of

the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Part III: Statutes of the National Council of the United

States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Inc.
The Rule has been designed and written in such a way as to ensure that the basic spirituality and principles contained in Part I of the document remain the same, but the Statutes in Part II and III can be updated when needed. Part I and Part II can be changed only by the International Council; Part III can be changed by the National Council of the United States with approval from the International Council. The entire Rule and Statutes in their three Parts must be treated as a single legal document; however, the first part, entitled “Rule of the International Confederation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul,” takes precedence over the other two.