The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded in 1833 by Frédéric Ozanam and six friends in Paris, France. The Society is a Roman Catholic lay organization that provides assistance to the poor and needy. The Society has spread throughout the world and today operates in 147 countries and has over 800,000 members.
The Society is based on two principles: charity and unity. Charity is the love of God and neighbor, and unity is the bond that unites members of the Society. The Society’s mission is to serve the poor and needy, and its members work to provide food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities to those in need.
The Society is organized into conferences, which are groups of members who meet regularly to pray, plan, and discuss their work. Each conference is linked to a Catholic parish. The Society is governed by a central council, which is elected by the members.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is a well-respected organization that has been providing assistance to the poor and needy for over 180 years. The Society’s members are dedicated to helping those in need, and their work makes a real difference in the lives of many people.
The Society’s purpose is to serve Christ in the poor with love, respect, hope and joy. We aim to not only supply immediate support, but to enable those assisted to break free from the cycle of poverty. Our desire is to empower and enable, offering a hand up rather than a hand out.
Much of our work consists of regularly visiting and assisting many private and confidential cases of people in need. We hold as confidential all names and details of those visited.
We distribute all food, clothes and all other goods donated by parishioners to as many in need as possible in deprived communities. In addition to our normal work we actively support and assist crèches and after care centres, children’s homes, old aged homes and rural schools in Durbanville and undertake many special projects making a difference in many people’s lives.
The Society relies for its income on donations received from parishioners and members and money collected from the SVP Poor Box in the church. The Society also receives a parish grant. All money collected is used solely for the needy. All administrative expenses such as cell phone, petrol and other expenses are borne by the members.
The Society is governed by the Society Rule Book and every rand collected and spent is accounted for on monthly financial returns submitted to SVP Central Council and subject to annual audit
Donations and the parish grant accounted for 72% of the Society’s income for the year whilst 54% of the disbursements was made for food.
Our grateful thanks go to our generous parishioners and Parish Finance Council without whose help and support we would be unable to assist the needy as we do.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is a worldwide organization that provides assistance to those in need. It was founded in 1833 by a French priest, Frederic Ozanam, and has since grown to include over 55,000 conferences in 147 countries. The Society’s members are volunteers who provide food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities to those who are struggling. They also work to advocate for the rights of the poor and to promote social justice.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is funded by donations from its members and the general public. It also receives financial support from the Catholic Church. The Society’s headquarters are located in Paris, France.
The Society of St Vincent de Paul is a valuable asset to the global community. It provides essential services to those who are in need and works to improve the lives of the poor and marginalized. The Society is a testament to the power of compassion and charity.
The Start
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul began in Paris, France, in 1833 when a young law student at the Sorbonne, Frédéric Ozanam, was challenged during a debate to demonstrate what he and his fellow Catholic students were personally doing to help the poor in Paris. Ozanam’s reaction was immediate. Within weeks, Ozanam, at 20 years of age, and six of his peers formed the first “Conference of Charity.” Under the conference, this group of seven men financed their works of charity out of their own pockets and from contributions of friends. They visited the poor in their homes, providing them with needed aid and assistance.
At the prompting of Monsieur Emmanuel Bailly and Sister Rosalie Rendu, superior of a convent of the Daughters of Charity, Ozanam soon placed the conference under the patronage of St. Vincent de Paul who had spent his life in 16th century France serving the poor. Within a few years, the original group of seven grew to 600, spreading to 15 other cities and towns in France, numbering more than 2,000 members.
From this humble beginning, the Society has spread and continues to grow throughout the world and today operates in 147 countries and has over 800 000 members. Blessed Frédéric Ozanam was beatified by Pope John Paul ll in 1997.
The first conference in South Africa was formed at St Mary’s Cape Town in 1856 and soon spread nationally. The Durbanville Conference of the Society was formed at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Durbanville in 1985.
Born to a peasant family in France in 1580, Vincent de Paul spent his early life in a determined struggle to escape his humble roots. His family shared his ambition, hoping that a career in the priesthood would better the family fortune.
However, he suffered a rude awakening when he was appointed to a rural parish in Gascony, where desperately poor farming community members were dying of starvation. His former connections with the wealthy and influential led him to seek their financial assistance. He organised them into groups to go from house to house requesting disposable items of furniture, food and clothing. The response was overwhelming and the project snowballed.
Faced with the extreme poverty of his surroundings and the spontaneous generosity of those who had never thought to share their resources with those in need, he went through a spiritual revolution. The lives of thousands of people were changed for the better – not by receiving luxuries, but by being given a chance to take steps to improve their living conditions for themselves.
He came to realise that assisting the poor was not only a matter of charity but also a matter of justice. Vincent became a legend in his own lifetime and was canonized as a saint in 1737.