SOCIETY OF SAINT

VINCENT DE PAUL
GROUP 4
The History of
the Society
 When was it founded?

Founded in 1833, the Society of St. Vincent

de Paul (SSVP) is an international lay catholic
organization of men and women to help
people in need. It is funded mainly by
donations.
 Blessed Frederic
Ozanam
The Journal de Debats outraged Blessed Frederic
Ozanam, the founder of Conferences, when he
was 17 years old for referring to the working
people as barbarians and enemies. Ozanam
criticized economists and industrialists for their
disregard for human dignity, exploitation,
slavery, usury, and violence, stressing their
disrespect for human dignity and exploitation of
the working class.
A group of Catholic students, including Jules Devaux
and Paul Lamanche, gathered to discuss the
controversy with atheist students Lamache. Frederic
Ozanam prepared their presentations as a group,
presenting his principles and convictions. However,
all sides maintained their own views. Le Taillandier,
the founder, aimed to inspire his friends by stating
that a meeting of charity would preserve the spirit of
faith and make their companions see the persistent
and beneficial vitality of Christianity. Ozanam
concluded that the focus should be on practical
charity, helping the poor, rather than solely on
charity. This event marked the beginning of the first
Conference on Catholicism.
 Paul Lamache Frederick Ozanam Jules Devaux Auguste Le Felix Clave
Taillandier

Lamache, Ozanam, Devaux, Le Taillandier, and Clave would be the founding

nucleus of the SSVP. "We have been brought together by a movement of Christian
pity, and no one in particular can call himself the originator of the Society."
Emmanuel Bailly was the first individual
to be attracted into the little group. He
was an experienced man, over 40 years
old, who had been worried about the
Catholic students for the previous 15
years. On a spring evening in 1833, the
young men went to his house and
presented Frederic Ozanam with their
proposition. After carefully listening to
him, Bailly exhibited a strong interest in
the initiative and joined them as one of
the remaining members.
They went to meet Fr. Olivier, the priest of the local
parish, who merely asked them to direct the
catechesis of poor young children. This proposal
was not precisely what they were searching for.
They were endowed with greater generosity and
dedication. Bailly, the eldest of the group, had the
brilliant idea of sending them to see a woman who
would profoundly affect the entire group and
without whom the SSVP would not have existed:
Sr. Rosalie Rendu is a DC.
 Sister Rosalie Rendu, DC

In 1815, a young woman named Sr. Rosalie led the

Daughters of Charity community. She welcomed the
group warmly and immediately began working to
alleviate misery. Together with young men, they formed
the Conference of St. Vincent, distributing aid to the poor.
Sr. Rosalie's instinctive sensitivity and guidance led them
to work in the Mouffetard areas of Paris, demonstrating
boundless humility, charity, and simplicity.
On April 23, 1833, the first seven members assembled in the
headquarters of Bailly's newspaper, the Tribune Catholique, and so
the first Conference of Saint Vincent de Paul was created.
The first members of the Conferences were not limited to
assistance, as they also took on roles as "Commissioners of
Charity" and helped young workers with their studies. They
also assisted prisoners and the military, creating food
pantries and dining rooms to protect vulnerable families
from rising prices. The first home was built for poor families
in 1842 in Lille, and the "Avocat pauvres" institution was
established in 1844. In 1850, the first business conference
was founded in Baudin factory in Jura, and banks for
unemployment and credit were established.
The SSVP, one of the oldest charitable social and humanitarian
organizations, has evolved into an International Confederation. It
is a significant international movement of the apostolate of
charity and social action, aiming to witness the fraternal love of
Christ among the poorest through spiritual bonding and human
formation. The organization collaborates with various types of
people from various backgrounds and levels of society,
promoting faith, giving, hope, and joy. The aim is universality, as
stated by Ozanamic enthusiastically.