International

Paris, France

Frédéric Ozanam left his home in Lyon, France, in the autumn of 1831, for Paris. He registered in the School of Law at the Sorbonne, University of Paris.

Frédéric collaborated with Mr. Emmanuel Bailly, editor of the Tribune Catholique, in reviving a student organization that had been suspended during the revolutionary activity of July 1830. They called their new association “The Conference of History.“ The group met on Saturdays to discuss various topics, everything but politics.

At one of their meetings, a student challenged Frédéric and the practicing Catholics. He admitted that the Catholic Church had done much good work in the past, but “what do you do now?“

Frédéric called for a meeting of five of his friends; they agreed to meet at Mr. Bailly’s office. The date was April 23, 1833, Frédéric’s twentieth birthday. Inspired by words, Frédéric the seventh decided to found the “Conference of Charity“ to assist the poor. The six students chose Emmanuel Bailly, the married layman, as their first President. In a short time, they changed their name to THE SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL after their patron.

National

St. Louis, MO.

While historians are not certain about some details, there is no doubt that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul was established in St. Louis, Missouri at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, popularly called “The Old Cathedral,“ in 1845.

Father John Timon, C.M., an American Vincentian priest from Pennsylvania, and later Bishop of Buffalo, New York, was the one who brought copies of the Rule of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul back from Dublin, Ireland, to St. Louis. Timon talked to various people about the Society and its wonderful work with the poor.

Bishop Peter Richard Kenrick, successor of the first Bishop of St. Louis, Joseph Rosati, C.M., asked Father Ambrose Heim to establish the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and be its Spiritual Advisor. Father Heim was known by all for his extraordinary zeal and ministry with the poor. He became known as “The Priest of the Poor.“

The first meeting of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the United States was held on November 20, 1845, only twelve years after its foundation in Paris.  Nineteen of the most prominent Catholic laymen of St. Louis attended. Dr. Moses Linton was elected President, Bryan Mullanphy, Vice-President, Dennis Galvin, Second Vice-President, James Maguire Jr., Secretary, Patrick Ryder, Treasurer, and Fr. Ambrose Heim, Spiritual Advisor. The Conference was aggregated (formally recognized) by the Society’s International Council in Paris on February 2, 1846

Local

Exeter New Hampshire

The Conference was established in October of 1989 with the assistance of Father Jim Decker who became our Spiritual Advisor. The Conference’s purposes from the very beginning was to provide emergency assistance to those in need, with the stipulation that this assistance was not available anywhere else. ”We are not intended to be an
ongoing source of assistance for any one individual or group”.

Following are the guidelines from the foundation meetings:

Resources

We would obtain our resources, both in the form of cash, food and other donations from the Priest in the parish and from parishioners and friends.

Providers

All of our resources will be distributed in a responsible manner.

We will account in writing for the receipt and distribution of all resources by providing an annual treasurer’s report.

To date the Conference has been true to it’s formation, expanding its assistance from a food pantry operation (in 2006 the Conference gave out over 109,000 lb of food), to its advocacy program which helps families with referals to Federal, State, Local and Private Agencies, for actual financial assistance.