This research is the Master’s Thesis of the “Masters in Vincentian Studies” program of Sister María Isabel Vergara Arnedillo, current Visitatrix of the Spain-East Province of the Daughters of Charity. Due to its length we will publish it weekly in four posts.

Part Three and Final:
Current Challenges in the Vincentian Family with Regard to Synodality

What we have seen up to this point makes us understand that the Vincentian charism is a gift of the Spirit to the Church … a gift which places Jesus Christ and the poor at the center of all its activity. This is clearly expressed in the Constitutions of the Daughters of Charity: Through faith they see Christ in those who are poor, and they see those who are poor in Christ (Constitutions, #10b). The Founders lived this experience that transformed their lives and felt sent like Jesus who was sent to bring the good news of the Kingdom to the poor (Luke 4:17). They also understood that everyone was needed to help provide for the needs of the poor … each one according to the vocation he/she received, but all equal as children of God at the service of those who suffer most.

St. Vincent and St. Louise lived from the perspective of this synodal dimension and knew how to transmit and share those insights with those who joined them, who walked together with them and who carried forward the work they had begun.

Pope Francis, as we have seen, wants to move toward a synodal Church with all that this entails. On many occasions he has spoken about clericalism as one of the most deadly diseases in the history of Christianity, a phenomenon that affects everyone consciously or unconsciously, priests, consecrated and lay people. He invited us to recover in a more conscious way the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council in order to overcome a pyramidal idea of the Church in which some interpret, teach and command, and others listen and obey. In the synodal Church we are all invited to listen to one another, we are all encouraged to be co-responsible, we must all feel responsible to do our part.

The Vincentian charism, which as we have seen was born through synodal activity, has been incarnated in the congregations and associations founded by St. Vincent and St. Louise and in others that under their charismatic inspiration have come into existence throughout history, thus forming the Vincentian Family. We, as Vincentians, are part of the Church and in this ecclesial moment we are called to live synodality as the call of the Spirit … a call that is extended to each and every one of us. Therefore, from our point of view, the Vincentian Family has some challenges if it wishes to live in a synodal manner and from this perspective, we highlight the following:

[1] The poor at the center of the Vincentian Family’s mission             

St. Vincent said to the Daughters of Charity: You must also remember that your principal concern, which what God asks especially of you is to be very attentive in serving the poor, who are our lords. Oh yes, Sisters! they are our masters (CCD:IX:97). He said this to the Sisters, but he would say it today to all who call themselves Vincentians. For our Founders the reality of the poor was unequivocally a call from God. The Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission, Father Tomaž Mavrič, in his Reflection to Begin the Preparation for the Celebration of the 4th Centenary of the Foundation of the Congregation of the Mission,[1] encourages the Missionaries to recover today and put into action the prophetic power that the Congregation of the Mission has had since its foundation, we must learn from Saint Vincent to read the signs of God in the cries of the poor and pay due attention to them directly and to understand that the needs of the poor, seen and heard from the Gospel, are today and always a flame that lights the fire of charity and urges us to “go out,” to “be close” and “available” to all those whom the Father loves preferentially and whose salvation He seeks. Also the Company of the Daughters of Charity in the last General Assembly held in 2021 exhorts the members to accept being inconvenienced, and after the example of the Good Samaritan, be ready to go out of our way so as to approach victim of poverty and injustice compassionately.[2]

Thos is a call to be a Samaritan Community, to not stay in our comfort zones and preset ideas and to reach out to the victims of the injustices of this world. Pope Francis invites us again and again to be a Samaritan Church. In his Encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, he uses the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan to invite us to decide, each and every day, whether to be Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders.[3]

For the Vincentian Family the poor are its reason for being and existing in the Church and in the world … and this reality present the Family with a twofold challenge to better live synodality:

• To look together at the reality of poverty that millions of people experience and to understand that there is the place where we discover that the charity of Jesus Christ urges us to go forth to minister on behalf of all who are poor, marginalized, exploited and/or oppressed. However, we are challenged to not only look, but to get down to work, walking together, sharing the richness that each Vincentian association possesses, being able, like St. Vincent and St. Louise, to organize its activities to meet the corporal and spiritual needs of people in poverty.
• The second challenge is to consider the poor as members of the Vincentian Family. Historically this has been the case. The vast majority of the members of the Vincentian Family are women, lay people, the poor, where the charism has taken root from the beginning. Today the challenge is to give voice and protagonism to those who on many occasions have not been granted either voice or vote in the creation of their history. Today, the new way of being Church is summed up by the word synodality and this means living in fidelity to the plan of God who wants all of us to participate in his mission. The challenge is to make space for the many people who want to participate in the mission of the Church and who want to do so in an active and prophetic manner. It is a matter of hearing the voices of those who suffer poverty and have much to contribute to the creation of our future.

[2] The creation of spaces where we can come together for formation, reflection and the search for answers to the calls of the poor.

The Vincentian Family is a tree with deep roots, alive, that expands and grows bigger and bigger. Its composition is impressive in terms of the origin of its members, of every race, color, culture…, of every age, profession, social category… and also in terms of concrete ways of living the following of Jesus: laity, clerics, consecrated religious, new ways of being Vincentian. Diversity is of the Spirit and although this diversity brings with it difficulties, it is also a prophecy for our world.

The Vincentian Family is present on five continents and in 161 countries throughout the world. All this is a great richness that is possibly not sufficiently exploited.

In order to grow as a Vincentian Family and consequently to advance in synodality, it is necessary to reflect together on our own spirituality. Formation in the charism must precede and go hand in hand with everything we do.

In recent years the different branches of the Vincentian Family have made many efforts for the formation in the charism both of their members and of the people who collaborate with them. For example, the Company of the Daughters of Charity in its last General Assembly addressed this concern for the formation of collaborators and this concern is expressed in the Inter-Assembly Document: Keep up formation of lay collaborators in the charism to ensure the Vincentian character of our services and the continuity when handing responsibility over becomes necessary.[4] Also the Congregation of the Mission in its last General Assembly has expressed the intention to continue the formation of the laity: In the context of a digital world, we commit ourselves to create in our missions, parishes and educational institutions, centers for Vincentian formation, animated by intergenerational teams of priests and laity, and inspired by the Social Teaching of the Church.[5]For years there have existed in many countries initiatives of joint study and deepening of the Vincentian charism. I want to highlight the Master’s Degree in Vincentian Studies launched by the Congregation of the Mission that began in 2021, as a response to a commitment of its previous General Assembly in which members of different Vincentian associations and different countries are participating with great dedication and depth, in this virtual program.

In the letter of the Superior General to the Vincentian Family on September 19, 2022, he made a call to organize “Vincentian Centers of spirituality and formation” in the different countries of the world where the Vincentian Family is present. Father Mavrič in this same letter speaks of moving from a “Vincentian Family” structure to a “Vincentian Family Movement” in which all the persons and groups who have St. Vincent as their model and patron are recognized and thus, formation in the charism becomes indispensable.

However, recognizing the vital importance of formation in Vincentian spirituality in order to grow in synodality, it becomes necessary to create spaces at all levels in which, in addition to forming ourselves together, we celebrate the faith together, reflect on the reality of poverty and come to implement real and concrete solutions to existing problems. Places where we can listen to each other, listen to the voice of God and the voice of the poor. Places where we can grow in fraternity and communion, where all of us, in the diversity that characterizes Vincentians, can put the gifts we possess at the service of the poor.

Shared Mission

At the beginning of the Synod on Synodality in October 2021, Pope Francis said: In the Church, everything starts with baptism.  Baptism, the source of our life, gives rise to the equal dignity of the children of God, albeit in the diversity of ministries and charisms.  Consequently, all the baptized are called to take part in the Church’s life and mission.  Without real participation by the People of God, talk about communion risks remaining a devout wish.[6]

The potential of the shared mission is undeniable. It is an invitation to empathy, to strengthen communication skills that in turn generate relationships and bonds; it is a disposition to collaborate, to weave networks, to generate synergies, to foster renewal and promote the search for real solutions. In the Church and in the Vincentian Family there is only one mission that is lived in many ways and forms. That is why the talents, skills and ways of thinking of all are needed.

Since the 1980’s the ecclesial magisterium has been speaking about the reality of a shared mission. Many institutes of consecrated life have been considering sharing their foundational charism with the laity. However, this is not the situation with regard to the Vincentian charism, which was originally born as a lay charism and later, developed different vocational forms.

The call to synodality that we have today in the whole Church and also among Vincentians is a call to live this shared mission which can happen if we commit ourselves…

• To recognize, love and value each other and to recognize the importance of the various vocations in the Vincentian Family.
• To affirm the role of the laity in the Church and in the Vincentian Family and in this sense, especially the branches of consecrated life whose members must continue to trust and delegate to the laity responsibilities with regard to the service of the poor.
• To become more informed about the different branches and associations.
• To engage in on-going formation and evaluation in order to help us live more coherently our Vincentian vocation in its various forms.
• To enter into processes of constructive dialogue, in honesty and sincerity, seeking together how to continue to open new roads of service.

Open-eyed mystics

Finally, but no less important, is the challenge of recovering or reinforcing mysticism in our lives, a mysticism that, following the example of Vincent de Paul, is “open-eyed”.

It is the core of our vocation and spirituality. Our life is a life of faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate and present in the realities of this world, especially in the hearts and lives of the poor. It is a mysticism that gathers the dynamic balance of action and contemplation.

Vincentians with a gaze of faith see Christ in the poor and the poor in Christ. The eyes of faith and a contemplative gaze are necessary to discover the presence of God in every reality, especially and in a special way in the poor. This is how St. Vincent expressed it: I must not judge a poor peasant man or woman by their appearance or their apparent intelligence, especially since very often they scarcely have the expression or the mind of rational persons, so crude and vulgar they are. But turn the medal, and you will see by the light of faith that the Son of God, who willed to be poor, is represented to us by these poor people (CCD:XI:26). As we well know, the theologian Karl Rahner once said the Christian of the future will either be a mystic or he will not be a Christian. To paraphrase him we could say: Vincentians of the present and of the future will either be mystics or else they will be neither Christian nor Vincentian.

Benedict XVI also affirmed this idea in his encyclical, Deus caritas est: Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.[7]

It has been said of St. Vincent that he was a “contemplative in action”.  The challenge for Vincentians to live synodality in the Church today is to be deeply spiritual persons and deeply committed to the cause of the poor. Synodality is to live with an openness to  the inspirations of the Holy Spirit and therefore, it is essential to cultivate a mysticism that enables us to encounter God every day, in every person and in every event.

Celestino Fernández CM has stated that the founders passed on to us their charismatic inspiration. They showed us the way. They taught us dynamism and courage … It is up to us to continue what they already did. We are now their hands, their feet, their heart, their intelligence, their audacity and their creativity. The future of the Vincentian charism is our task and our responsibility and ours alone…. We have to look at and live the future from the perspective of prophecy and must be bold in our search for new ways to reveal the perennial vitality of this treasure called Vincentian charism … and synodality is the way to do all this together as members of the Worldwide Vincentian Family.

The Vincentian charism has much to contribute to the synodal journey to which we are all invited to live. From the beginning our way of being has been one of “going out”, walking together, living in communion, active in participation … and doing all this in order to fulfill a mission: the mission of Jesus Christ, evangelizer and servant of the poor, a mission that we, as Vincentians, are called to continue at every moment in history.

Sr Mª Isabel Vergara Arnedillo, D.C.

Footnotes:

[1] T. Mavrič, Reflection to Begin Preparation for the Celebration of the 4th Centenary of the Foundation of the Congregation of the Mission. April 17, 2023. https://cmglobal.org/en/2023/04/17/reflection-to-begin-the-preparation-for-the-celebration-of-the-4th-centenary-of-the-foundation-of-the-congregation-of-the-mission/

[2] Inter-Assembly  Document of the Daughters of Charity (2021-27), p.4.

[3] Fratelli Tutti, #69.

[4] Iner-Assembly Document of the Daughters of Charity (2021-2027), p. 13.

[5] Final Document of the XLIII General Assembly, p. 4.

[6] Pope Francis, Opening Address to the Synod, October 9, 2021.

[7] Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, #1.

Click on the following image to access all the information on the Second Vincentian Family Convocation, November 14–17, 2024 in Rome, Italy: