Vinnies View – Robert Leach
THE Society’s core values statement says “the Society seeks to deepen the faith of all its members through its good works, integrating the social and ethical teachings of the Catholic Church.”
In May 2011, Pope Benedict took steps to strengthen world renowned charity Caritas’ Catholic identity and increase its focus on evangelisation.
Pope Pius XII established Caritas more than 60 years ago.
However, it is clear that by 2011 the Holy See had reached the view that Caritas had strayed from its core values and mission.
Hence, the standing down of the organisation’s international secretary general Lesley-Anne Knight.
Some powerful statements about the true nature of charity as understood by the Catholic Church were reasserted as a result of this intervention.
They included:
- The deepest cause of suffering of the human person is the absence of God.
- The primary characteristic of (charity) is to bear witness to God.
- Charity is the visiting card that opens the door to Christ.
- Charity is a divine gift bestowed by the God who is love.
- The one who bears witness to this love becomes an apostle (and) through the work of such apostles a seed of belief is sown even in the most sceptical.
In addressing Caritas officials about the future of their organisation, Cardinal Robert Sarah said Pope Pius XII, in founding Caritas, wanted to “make present through specific works of charity, the charity of God himself.”
Cardinal Sarah also made reference to Pope Benedict’s first encyclical Deus Caritas Est.
Pope Benedict wrote: “For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally well be left to others. Charity in fact is inseparable from the Church’s other two fundamental tasks: to proclaim the word of God and to celebrate the sacraments.”
In 2006, at the World Conference of Charity, Pope Benedict gave a reminder that “in the charitable organisation, God and Christ must not be strange words. The true strength of Caritas depends on the strength of faith of all its members and collaborators.”
These words, of course, apply equally to members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul.
“In our time,” the pope went on, “in which the faith in many places seems like a light in danger of being snuffed out forever, the highest priority is to make God visible in the world and to open to humanity a way to God. And not to any ‘god’, but to the God who had spoken on Sinai – the God whose face we recognise in the love borne to the very end in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.”
According to The Rule of the St Vincent de Paul Society “The Vincentian vocation is to:
- bear witness to Christ’s compassionate and liberating love.
- be concerned with the deeper needs and the spiritual wellbeing of those they help (without proselytising).
- hope that someday it will no longer be they who love but Christ who loves through them and that through their caring the poor may catch a glimpse of God’s great love for them.
- burn with the love of God as revealed by Christ and to deepen their own faith and fidelity.
- grow more perfect in love by expressing compassionate and tender love to the poor and one another.
- journey towards holiness primarily through promoting a life of prayer and reflection and by transforming their concern into action (a journey which) will be all the more fruitful if the members’ lives are characterised by prayer, meditation on the Holy Scriptures, devotion to the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary and to the teachings of the Church.
- renew faith among all people, in Christ and in the civilising effect of the teachings of the Church through all time.”
In an story published in Cath News in June 2001, ACU emeritus professor Gabrielle McMullen said “for Catholic agencies to achieve their ‘full identity’ they must realise both a high standard of service and unequivocal Catholic identity.
The Catholic identity is reflected in the Christian inspiration of the agency and its staff, fidelity to the Christian message, an institutional commitment to the service of the human family, and continuing reflection in the light of the Catholic faith upon developments in the relevant profession.”
“An institution is Catholic if it is, in reality, a ‘sacrament’, that is, a sign and an instrument, of the ongoing presence of Christ in the world and as the place of encounter with this Christ. This faithfulness is fundamental to Catholic agencies – in our respective roles let us ask ourselves how faithfully we are the hands and heart of Jesus.”
In Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict recognised the need for professional competence for all those engaged in charitable works but argues that such competence isn’t enough.
“We are dealing with human beings and human beings always need something more than technically proper care,” he wrote.
“They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity.
“Consequently, in addition to their necessary professional training, charity workers need a ‘formation of the heart’ – they need to be led to that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others.
“As a result, love of neighbour will no longer be for them a commandment imposed, so to speak, from without, but a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love.”
Of course a lot more could be said but the point is clear enough. We belong to a Catholic organisation – like Caritas – dedicated to deepening the faith of its members, and aspiring to bring the love of Christ to the poor through good works.
May we never forget what our Society stands for or stray from the path laid out for us by Blessed Frederic Ozanam.
