Why a family?

Reflections on context, spirituality, collaboration, and challenges

1. Situation of poverty

2. Heart of our Vincentian response: Vincentian Spirituality 3. Method of our response 4. Challenges

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

March 14, 2005 issue

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

Jeffrey Sachs
Head of Earth Institute University (New York)

Columbi

UNITED NATIONS Millennium Development Goals

Reduce worldwide poverty into half by 2015

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

8+ million people die each year because they are too poor to stay alive

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty

More than 1/6th of the 6 billion people in the world today AIDS, drought, isolation, civil wars, government corruption, etc.

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

2001: East Asia 200 M + South Asia 400 M + Africa 250 M +

Africa: nearly half of its population live in extreme poverty live on less than $1 a day

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

Suggested means to cut worldwide poverty in half by 2015:

More aid to extremely poor countries especially in subsaharan Africa; debt relief; more trade, and new taxes

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

Is there anything that the Vincentian Family can do in the face of such extreme need? What would this (these) be?

How would it (they) be to those offered by other people? What needs to be done on the short term as well as the long term in order to give an effective, long-lasting response?

1. What the data imply

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

The kind of response we give depends on how we view poverty.

Is it evil? Is it something that will always be with us? Is it economic? Political? Social, cultural, moral, or even spiritual?

OUR CONTEXT: POVERTY IN THE WORLD TODAY

2. Collaboration is the method with which to address poverty today

Is it to be presumed or encouraged, nay institutionalized?

VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY: THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO THE POOR

1. Vincent de Paul always looked at the human person as a whole as much a spiritual, moral, as a political, social, cultural entity, with aspirations that include also the economic.

VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY: THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO THE POOR

St. Vincent de Paul Poverty is not the will of God.
It defaces the dignity of every poor person and the image of God in them.

Gordon Brown - one moral reason for fighting poverty: no child should die if it is avoidable.

VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY: THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO THE POOR

2. St. Vincent de Paul Poverty is also a possible event of salvation.
Vincent saw in the poor the very person of Christ. In the person of the poor, you serve Jesus Christ. . . You serve Christ in the person of the poor

VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY: THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO THE POOR

3. Vincent experienced how the poor brought him to God. The poor, to put it in contemporary terms, evangelized him.
the net result of my experience on the matter is the judgment I have ever formed, that true religion true religion, Gentlemen, is to be found among the poor. God enriches them with a lively faith; they believe, they touch, they taste the words of life. . .

VINCENTIAN SPIRITUALITY: THE HEART OF OUR SERVICE TO THE POOR

We thought we went to help. We ended up receiving more than we have given. the poor are an integral part of our Family and not merely recipients of our benevolence and charity.

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

There is need for collaboration all over the world to rally around this project.

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

The Vincentian Family tries to unite groups trying to address poverty. But we are not the only one. There are many others, with whom we can collaborate, synchronize, network.

Individual charities and foundations would not be sufficient.

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

Collaboration can make a world of difference.

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

Networking, synergizing, global cooperation, etc.

Vincent, Louise de Marillac, and Ozanam discovered this several centuries ago

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

AIC: Against all forms of poverty, we are to act together. St. Vincent de Paul: Today the poor continue to multiply in number, their cry goes up to heaven. God calls us to serve them, but he wants that we do it together.

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

Poverty is a social, political, economic and moral issue.

The only way to fight it and to help the poor is to bring together economists, politicians, and social scientists, religious men and women, etc.

COLLABORATION: THE ENGINE OF VINCENTIAN MINISTRY

Vincentian Family
Collaboration on the international level
On the national level, only in some countries.

CHALLENGES OF TODAY
1. Deepen our Vincentian Spirituality.

2. To make direct contact with the poor.

caring presence, and help and assistance.

CHALLENGES OF TODAY
3. To promote formation of directors 4. To intensify collaboration
Appreciate the need today to coordinate, network, and collaborate with other government, nongovernment agencies, national and international organizations such as the U.N.

CHALLENGES OF TODAY
5. To involve the young
Vincentian Family focus: being present to the world of the youth

International Meeting of the Vincentian Marian Youth (JMV) Paris in August 2005