To paraphrase the words of St. Vincent about the community and apply them to his digital community… “FamVin.org is not what it once used to be, nor is it yet what it will be.”

It has seen many changes since it beginnings in 1998 as a trilingual site for the General Assembly of the Congregation of the Mission.Then Superior General Robert Maloney commissioned that site with the understanding it was to morph immediately into a “daily newspaper” and “tool of collaboration” for the Vincentian Family, a family whose existence he was so instrumental in bringing to our attention.

For many years we have been calling this digital network the “FamVin Project.” The original website has spawned other websites and social media offshoots in multiple languages. (In fact at last count there are some 50 digital assets.)

Looking at all these changes it has been very clear for some time that we needed a strategic plan to ensure that the  project keep pace and adapt to the no longer “new” digital age. That plan was approved in 2014. Developing that plan was also important. And given that I am 77 it is prudent that there should be succession planning.

With this in mind I am happy and excited to announce that Father Aidan Rooney, CM has been asked by the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission to further develop and implement the approved strategic plan and to succeed me as the coordinator of the FamVin Project.

He brings a rich life experience and precisely the set of skills needed for this next stage of development.

He is, and will remain, an active missionary in Bolivia’s Altiplano, bringing an added perspective to the Project’s future. He has long been on the cutting edge of technology and has a deep commitment to the Vincentian Family. Commitment to collaboration and systemic change have marked his projects before the concept came into common use in the Vincentian family. He will assume the role of coordinator of the FamVin Project on September 1, collaborating with the Vincentian Family Office.

I look forward to this transition as the Famvin Project moves deeper into the age of collaboration and systemic change, and continues to foster awareness of the Vincentian charism as exemplified by Vincent, Louise, Frederic and so many more, and lived with inventiveness unto infinity by their many followers in the nearly 400 years since Vincent’s first foundation – the Charities or forerunners of the AIC.

He is Superior of the CM International Mission in  El Alto Bolivia. Here is his announcement to his friends and family in the USA.