WASHINGTON (OSV News) — As the “face of the poor” in the U.S. changes and their needs evolve, a new office on Capitol Hill in Washington for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will “anchor” the organization’s advocacy on behalf of the poor and homeless, its national leader said.
“Seniors, women, single parents and the displaced middle class have become a larger part of the more than 5 million people SVdP USA serves every year. As the world evolves, so do the needs of the poor,” said John A. Berry, national president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s National Council of the United States.
He made the comments at the ribbon-cutting and blessing of the organization’s new national office near the U.S. Capitol. Its headquarters are in St. Louis.
“This unique direct relationship we have with our neighbors in need gives us a perspective and a view from the reality of the poor that we will be able to share with policymakers and like-minded nonprofits and other organizations. The new D.C. office will anchor that advocacy work,” Berry said April 4.
‘A fire that lights the world’
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA — which is also known for the thrift stores and food pantries it operates in cities and towns across the country — works in 4,428 parish-based conferences across the country, with almost 90,000 Vincentian volunteers serving their communities.
Vincentians are known for face-to-face encounters with the poor, as they visit the homes of those they serve, to identify both immediate and longer-term needs, including emergency assistance with utilities, rent, food and clothing, and they also offer prayer and spiritual comfort to the people they serve.
Last year, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA provided more than $1.4 billion in aid, including $60 million in emergency financial assistance to prevent evictions and keep people housed.
Inspired by the example of St. Vincent de Paul, known as “the apostle of charity,” Antoine Frédéric Ozanam and five other students formed a lay organization in 1833 to serve the poor in Paris that became the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
“That small effort by six college students has become a fire that lights the world,” Berry said. “The Society of St. Vincent de Paul today serves in 155 countries around the world, with 800,000 members and 1.5 million volunteers.” It is the largest lay Catholic organization in the world.
Working tirelessly for the poor
Blessed Frédéric — who was beatified in 1997 by St. John Paul II — once wrote that “it is too little to relieve the needy day by day. It is necessary to get to the root of the evil and by wise reforms to diminish the causes of public misery.”
Berry said those words “are our heritage, they are our history, they are the calling we must continue to follow in today’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul.”
Today, more than one-half million people in the United States are experiencing homelessness, he said. Millions of Americans, he noted, lack basic necessities such as affordable housing, nutritious food and quality health care, with families living on the streets, children going hungry and the cycle of poverty persisting.
“Since our founding in 1833, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has been committed to working not just to serve the poor, but to advocate for them,” said Berry.
“The work of charity cannot, and must not, be neatly divided from the claims of justice,” he added. “While SVdP is not a political organization, our work and our faith demand that we advocate for those living in poverty.”
Berry emphasized that “the work of every Vincentian across the globe is a vital lifeline for countless people in need. … We must become bearers of hope. … Hope, in the Vincentian tradition, is rooted in the unwavering belief that God is present among the poor and suffering. When we stand alongside them, we stand with Christ himself.”
Advocating for change
As St. Vincent and Blessed Frédéric “showed us, we must not only serve the poor, but stand beside them, speak for them and challenge the systems that keep them in poverty,” he continued. “We must advocate for affordable housing, living wages and access to quality education and health care.”
Berry emphasized that “our faith and our actions must walk hand-in-hand. We must support organizations that are working to address the root causes of poverty, including systemic racism and economic inequality.”
He said the organization’s new Washington office will advocate in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services and other nonprofits to “drive the changes needed to address poverty at its source.”
In addition to Berry, participants in the ribbon-cutting and blessing of the office included Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Juan Manuel B. Gomez, president general of the International Confederation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul; Archbishop Andrew E. Bellisario of Anchorage-Juneau, Alaska, ordained a Vincentian priest, who serves as the national episcopal adviser for the society; Michael Acaldo, national CEO of the society; and Ingrid Delgado, the society’s national director of public policy and advocacy.
‘A great heart for the poor’
Delgado will lead the new Washington office. She recently served as the associate director of government relations for the USCCB and earlier worked as the associate director of social concerns and respect life for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Earlier that morning Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, retired archbishop of Washington, celebrated a Mass for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul’s international board of directors in the St. Vincent de Paul Chapel at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
In his homily, Cardinal Gregory praised Blessed Frédéric Ozanam for having “had a great heart for the poor.”
“In many respects, he sought to find justice through charity — still a well-sought journey in our own modern world,” the cardinal said.
