Pope Francis and St. Vincent

John Freund, CM
March 13, 2013

Rev. Eduardo Mangiarotti, an Argentine priest. described Cardinal Bergoglio, as a man of action, and someone who can command attention.

“When he preaches, he’s a man who can make the people listen to him. And not only Catholic people, I mean not only the people who belong to the church, but he’s also very known nationwide. The people in our country really know him and also look up to him — the way he addresses issues regarding social justice, education, our own identify as a nation,” Mangiarotti said.

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Vincent de Paul changed the face of the Catholic Church in France.

“Although Vincent de Paul was a spiritual director of diocesan priests, a peasant on intimate terms with nobility, part of the vanguard of a wave of Church renewal, a creative genius at organizing social welfare programs and a master preacher, he was most of all a person who found and served God in the anawim, the poor, sick, abandoned outcasts in the countryside and the city.

Vincent drew other people into his projects and made them his co-workers. Many priests and laymen joined him, but he broke new ground by inviting women to serve poor and sick people out in society. Today worldwide, many women and men follow in Vincent’s footsteps.

Vincent’s mix of praying and doing, of bringing the resources of the well-off to the most vulnerable, of serving the poor and being blessed by the poor has appealed to tens of thousands of believers over the last three centuries. Vincent is a good companion to anyone who seeks balance between action and contemplation.

– from Praying with Vincent de Paul by Thomas McKenna”


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1 Comment

  1. Br John H. Kimboi, CM

    Well done dear brother in St Vincent for your good parallelism, it is truly St Vincent was of such, now let us see and pray that our newly elected Pope how far he will live the expectation of many for the church.