Ecumenism is the search for unity, communion and harmony among Christians, despite their differences; this movement pursues the unity of faith in Jesus Christ, over and above the diversity of expressions and rites.

At the time of St. Vincent de Paul, when France was torn apart by religious wars (Calvinism, Jansenism, etc.) whose traces were still very much alive in the hearts of the people, the language was harsh and prejudices sowed division, in many cases without any possibility of bringing positions closer together, let alone good relations. Expressions of vengeance and hatred surfaced in the statements of both sides. Given this situation, what was Father Vicente’s thinking? How did he act?

Father Vincent de Paul soon came into contact with men of other “creeds”, for the worst and the best reasons: his priestly ordination took place in the chapel of the episcopal residence of Château-l’Évêque, where the bishop of Périgueux was exiled because the cathedral had been set on fire by the Calvinists. During his captivity in Tunis, he had contact with the wife ( an Orthodox Christian) of his master (an apostate from Nice). Through her, her husband returned to the Catholic faith and God used him to release Fr. Vincent, who fled by boat with the family to Avignon, in the south of France. When he was appointed parish priest of Châtillon-les-Dombes, he lodged with a Calvinist and became his friend; from St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, he learned to treat those who think differently, without bitterness or excitement, but with gentleness and understanding (1).

In Vincent de Paul’s letters and conferences we find a language that was unusual in his time, although it is not the language we have known after Vatican Council II. To a lay missionary who was traveling to Madagascar in the company of some Huguenots (2) and who worked as a surgeon, he wrote:

I am really distressed to learn that you will have some heretics on board ship and, consequently, much to endure from them. But, after all, God is the Master and He has permitted this for reasons unknown to us. Perhaps it is to oblige you to be more reserved in their presence, more humble and devout toward God, and more charitable toward your neighbor so that they may see the beauty and holiness of our religion and be moved to return to it. Be very careful to avoid every sort of dispute and contention with them, and be patient and kindly in their regard, even if they attack you or our holy faith and our customs. Virtue is so beautiful and amiable that they will be compelled to love it in you, if you practice it well. It is to be desired that, in the services you render to God on board ship, you make no distinction of persons and show no apparent difference in your treatment of Catholics and Huguenots, so that the latter may know you love them in God. I hope that your good example will be helpful to both. Please take care of your health and that of our Missionaries (3).

Thus, Fr. Vincent emphasizes the value of witnessing through works, carried out with dedication and love, which is more convincing than polemics and aggressive arguments.

Sometimes these matters were addressed from prejudices: “if it is as I think, it is good”, otherwise “it is bad”; “if it is Catholic, it is good, if it is not Catholic, it is bad”. In a letter written to Father Guilherme Gallais, superior of Sedan, involved in some juridical controversies, he recommended:

It is not expedient for us, Monsieur, to become involved in secular affairs, no matter what relation they may have to spiritual matters […] because the affairs in which we might become involved would concern either Catholics only, or members of the religion’ only, or the case of a Catholic against a Huguenot […] and if it is on behalf of a Catholic against a member of that religion, how do you know if the Catholic is in the right in the justice he is demanding? There is a great difference between being a Catholic and being an upright man. Even if you were sure that his claim was based on justice, why would you not think that the Governor and the magistrates would judge the affair according to their conscience, especially when it is not a purely religious matter? (4)

And the letter ends like this:

What great Missionaries you and I would be if we only knew how to animate souls with the spirit of the Gospel, which should make them conformable to Jesus Christ! I assure you that this is the most effective means of sanctifying Catholics and of converting heretics we could employ, and nothing can make them more obstinate in error and vice than to do the contrary (4).

Therefore, the whole letter is a wake-up call, almost a reprimand, about some of the behavior of this missionary, who was involved in juridical controversies concerning people of the Calvinist faith.

Regarding the validity of the sacrament of Baptism administered by the Huguenots, there were rumors that it was invalid because it did not respect the essence of the formula. Father Vincent asked a missionary working in the area to investigate carefully, quietly, and report back; to those who asked for clarification, he said:

They wrote me from Saintes and Richelieu that, after a diligent enquiry to learn the truth, they found that nothing essential is being omitted and they are baptizing validly (5).

It is clear that Father Vincent de Paul had an ecumenical concern that will have an impact on the Fathers of the Congregation of the Mission. I cannot resist making a reference to a modern event that is at the origin of the ecumenical movement of the Church and that will peak at the Second Vatican Council with the Decree “Unitatis Reintegratio” on ecumenism: the Mechelen Conferences. The protagonists of these Conferences were Lord Halifax (Anglican) and Father Fernand Portal, CM (French, of the Congregation of the Mission), both residing temporarily on the island of Madeira, a place providentially chosen to organize the beginning of the ecumenical movement, which later (in 1925) flourished under the high patronage of Cardinal Mercier, Archbishop of Mechelen, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Randal Davidson.

Also worthy of mention is Fr. Justin de Jacobis, a Vincentian missionary in Ethiopia, heir to this ecumenical concern of Fr. Vincent de Paul, who incorporated into the Catholic Church a part of the Coptic Christians of the country, respecting their rites, their language and their liturgical traditions.

In the acceptance of the difference, in the accessory, is where communion is built in the essential: in Jesus Christ.

Fr. José Alves, CM

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(1) St. Francis de Sales, bishop of Geneva, lived in Annecy because Geneva was under Calvinist domination.

(2) Huguenots, a word used to designate members of the Reformed Church in France of Calvinist origin.

(3) Letter to Philippe Patte, lay brother of the Nantes Mission (CCD:VIII:208-209).

(4) Letter to Fr. Guilherme Gallais, superior of the house of Nantes (CCD:II:493-494, 494-495).

(5) Letter to Fr. Edmund Jolly, superior of the house in Rome (CCD:VIII:134).