FAMVIN: The International Vincentian Family

On Sunday, January 4, 2009, the Daughters and Sisters of Charity along with hundreds of visitors will be commemorating a momentous event in our history of America and of the Catholic Church.

The newsletter of the affiliates of West Central and East Central provinces of the Daughters of Charity is now available on line. Read about reports of meetings and plans for others.

President Raul Castro attended Saturday the beatification of a Catholic monk in Cuba, the first ceremony of its kind on the Caribbean island. Born in Havana on Feb. 12, 1820 Jose Olallo Valdes was left at the entrance to the Casa Cuna San Jose orphanage and educated by the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent [...]

“She’s a baseball-loving nun who in her spare time with the Daughters of Charity in Evansville carves soft wood using a bench knife, detail knife and gouger.” The money Sister Josita Parrino gets from selling her wood carvings goes to help the poor, with a little set aside to replenish the hobby. Source

November 29th marks the 375th anniversary of the foundation of the Company of the Daughters of Charity

A team of criminal justice students in south Florida describe their “service learning” project with the Duaghters of Charity. See related feature in the Miami Herald.

The Superior General of the C.M. and the Daughters of Charity, Father G. Gregory Gay, describes and shares pictures of his recent visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to Congo Brazzaville, where he met with the missionaries of the C.M., the Daughters of Charity, and diverse groups of the Vincentian Family.

Between them Angela King and Natalie Hurst have raised £1,545 by taking part in a skydiving stunt at the end of August 2008. These two women are friends of the Daughters and for a number of years they have been supporting the people of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia where the Daughters run the following services : [...]

Rosalie Rendu was convinced  “You will go and visit the poor ten times a day, and ten times a day you will find God there … you go into their poor homes, but you find God there.”  Occasional contributor to famvin Susan Stabile commemorates the 5th anniversary of the beatification of Rosalie reflections in her [...]

Suzanne Baumgartner, DC has a Facebook page devoted to Daughters of Charity  International Projects Services. The page leads people to  “where all the money goes” in donations to this fund. There Sr.Felicia Mazzola, D.C. shows where the help goes all around the world in ministries for the neediest where the Daughters serve.
100% of all donations [...]

The Vincentian Millenium Partnership joined with more than 10,000 people in the largest ever rally to “”End Child Poverty“” in the UK where 3.9 million children live in poverty. The Daughters of Charity were quite prominent amng the marchers.

The president of the nation’s largest nonprofit hospital system warned of fear-mongering sinking another effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system. Sister Carol Keehan DC said “pseudo health reform” — including health savings accounts and high-deductible insurance plans — were not the answer to helping the 47 million uninsured Americans, including 9 million children, [...]

Notes from the presentation by Sr Catherine Salani DC at the FamVin World Youth Day  Gathering in July of this year are now available on the FamVin Australia site.   They can be accessed  through the link: Presentation Notes .   In her presentation, Sr Catherine focused on St Louise de Marillac.
Other presentations [...]

The Daughters of Charity are accepting food donations at 500 NW 63rd Ave. in Miami. Needed items include powdered and evaporated milk, canned hot dogs and packaged red beans, lentils and black beans.

“We just hadn’t paid too much attention to the spirituality of our leaders,” said  (Daughter of Charity) Mary Kay Tyrell, chief mission and ministry officer for St. Thomas Health Services. “We just assumed that if we hired them, they were there by choice.”