Fr. John Kandathinkara, VC, currently serves as the Superior General of the Vincentian Congregation in India. Fr. John explains that the Lord can work miracles in the Church and in the world, when we work together as a Vincentian Family,

With him we continue a series of video interviews called “The Heart of a Leader” which will accompany us on our journey to the meeting in November 2024.

“As we dream together, the dream becomes a reality.” – Fr. Tomaž Mavrič, C.M. Register now at https://famvin.org/en/famvin-2024

Transcript:

Father John, could you introduce yourself please?
Yes, my name is John, I have a last name Kandathinkara, and I belong to the Vincentian Congregation; right now I am the Superior General. You may not know the Vincentian Congregation, since there’s a CM Congregation. It has its foundation in India, in 1904 by the Servant of God, Father Varkey Kattarath.
We have 578 priests in our community, and they work mainly in India, also 30 to 40 priests work in Africa, and then we have a presence in another 15 countries.

We mainly follow the Vincentian Charism, especially preaching the gospel to the poor.

Father John, why is it important to work together as a Vincentian Family?
Well, we all follow the same faith; we are united by Christ through the same faith and then as Vincentians, we follow the charism of St. Vincent de Paul. And so, when we come together, I think it becomes much more effective, and we can do a lot in the sense that when we put our efforts together, the Lord will multiply miraculously the effort that we take. And there will be more in terms of service to the poor, and for the Church as well as the world at large.

Finally, the hope and the challenge for the future of the Vincentian Family?
The Vincentian Family I mean for me, it is personally new, although not for the Congregation. But as I see it, this is a worthwhile effort, bringing different cultures, languages, different needs together on one table or one umbrella of an organization… is not an easy task, but at the same time the process is underway, and it looks like it is working very well, and for the future when we come together, definitely this is going to work miracles in the Church, and definitely a big service for the world.

Thank you very much.