Welcome and Vincentian Greetings!

We are very pleased you have decided to join us on this journey into the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Catholic Social Teaching and the Catholic Faith. 

The thought of building God’s kingdom on earth can seem challenging, particularly in these difficult and often divisive times when it sometimes feels impossible to make a real difference. We can feel helpless at our inability to solve people’s problems, yet with the grace of God, we can do just that. In our SVP work, sometimes all it takes is a smile in order to make someone’s day a little brighter. God is loving, merciful and personal and we meet Him in those we serve.

Frederic Ozanam, the founder of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, wanted to create a network of charity. He wanted to bring Christ to the poor through his prayer and action and named the Society after the inspirational French priest of the 1600s – St Vincent de Paul. St Vincent insisted we love God by a life of practical loving and caring for others, especially those who are poor, lonely and forgotten, left-out and abandoned. For him. the way to holiness was an active life in the midst of the turmoil and change of daily life.

As Vincentians, we grow in our love of the Father, through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit by spending time each day in prayer, reading Scripture and allowing our love of Christ to shape and form us. Our lives are transformed into a loving response to the love and forgiveness we receive from the Father.

Thank you for responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit within you and in arriving at this page. May your journey with us be fruitful and your outreach a blessing to those you serve.

Yours in Christ,

All at Head Office SVP England and Wales