To understand one of the objectives of the Confraternity of Vincentian Lawyers, it is essential to quote Frederic Ozanam, a holy man, an academician, writer, lawyer and professor of the history of foreign literature at the Sorbonne (he is considered to be one of the precursors of comparative literature).

Frederic created the foundation for a new theory of social thought that was grounded on the struggle for justice in the area of labor and human relationships. He condemned slavery and rejected the tremendous gap between the rich and the poor. His work tended to replace almsgiving with social justice.

A few months before his death, Frederic spoke to the members of the Society of Saint Vincent de :Paul in Florence* and stated: you find yourselves in the presence of one of the eight students who, twenty years ago, in May 1833, gathered together for the first time in the capital of France under the patronage of Saint Vincent de Paul. We felt the desire and the need to maintain our faith in the midst of attacks by various schools of false prophets. It was at that time that we cried out: “Let us get to work! Let us do something that is in accord with our faith!” What could we do to show that we were true Catholics but dedicate ourselves to those who are most pleasing to God. Let us assist our neighbor in the same way that Jesus Christ served his sisters and brothers. United in this endeavor, the eight of us joined together. In order for God to bless our ministry we were lacking one thing: charitable works.

In light of this, and having Frederic Ozanam before us as an example and Saint Vincent de Paul as our patron, we decided to create the Confraternity of Vincentian Lawyers in order to respond to the call: Go out to the Poor! Our hope and our desire are that the poor will enjoy social justice as a result of our free legal advocacy, counsel and accompaniment.

For three years we have recruited Vincentian lawyers who want to fulfill Frederic’s wishes. Our members include lawyers from Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Ecuador. Three countries have been able to gather together a sufficient number of professionals in order to form an association. We still need many more volunteers who wish to join us in this noble cause.

Another objective of our confraternity is to form an International Bar Association of Vincentian Lawyers, but in order to do that we need each country to establish a national association of Vincentian lawyers.

If you are a lawyer and a Vincentian and if you experience the call to serve those who do not have any means to repay you, then please communicate with our coordinator, Carlos Lainez at carloslainez24@gmail.com.

We close with the words that Frederic often prayed: Lord, I want to do what you want and I want to do things in the way that you want them to be done and when you want them to be done … and I want to do this because you want this done.

Irene Cruz

*Address to the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul in Florence, January 30, 1853