The Gathering of 162 members of the Vincentian Family took place in Indianapolis over a 3 day period Oct. 25-27, 2013. There were representatives from the VinFam Collaborators, Sisters of Charity, Daughters of Charity, Society of St. Vincent de Paul (Canada & USA), Congregation of the Mission, Ladies of Charity, Ministry Associates, Vincentian Young Adults/ University Ministries, Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Trinity, and Sisters of the Most Holy Name. This included 15 members of our Canadian SSVP including our Nation President Jean-Noel Cormier and our Ontario President Jim Paddon.


The theme of the Gathering was taken directly from the words of Frederic Ozanam "Let Us Go to the Poor". The Objectives of the sessions were to:

1. Go deeper into the spirituality of systemic change
2. Collaborate to end poverty through systemic change
3. Make a place at the table for Vincentian young adults
4. Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Ozanam

In the opening session Ralph Middlecamp SVDP gave a presentation called "Following Blessed Frederic into the Vineyard". Frederic Ozanam lived his short life as a Catholic layman with a remarkable commitment to his Catholic faith. He dealt with the social issues of the day. The presentation invited us to follow Frederic in our vocation of holiness and challenged us to identify and address the social issues of today and bring about systemic change. The slide presentation "The Roots of Ozanam's Passion for Charity and Justice" is also available on-line.

Father Guillermo Campuzano, CM gave a very inspiring presentation on the The Spirituality of Systemic Change . The video of this presentation is on-line and I encourage everyone to view it. Father encouraged us to search for an "Ethos" - global home where the poor also has a space. "Systemic Change is a specific way in which we can transform our human Ethos...our world so that all can feel at home in this human dwelling with peace and justice. He also challenged us to "Identify the Seeds of Hope" (opportunities for systemic change) in our areas. Later in the session Father Campuzano gave a presentation on "Managing Change.....Moving Vincentian Spirituality into action". He reminded us that Pope Francis has said that "Indifference is the sin of today". He said that we should be in "Solidarity with those in Poverty" and encouraged us to go and do our best to help regenerate the "Human Dwelling" (a proper place for all). He suggests that we become "Story Tellers" and share our success stories of Systemic Change so that we may all benefit.

There was a session called "Room at the Table" which was focused on systemic projects by the youth. There were several great examples of youth involvement in systemic change. It was great to see so many youth in attendance and the enthusiasm that they brought to the conference.

There was a session discussing three particular systemic projects. The first one was the development and construction of a resource centre for people in poverty in Macon Ga.. This was a great success story of a project that grew as more and more people recognized the benefits and threw their support behind it. The second project was a "Low interest Loans for the Low Income" project in Belleville IL. This project operated with the same objective as our ONRC Vinnie's Wallet project but instead was administered by the local Credit union. The third project was a report on a feasibility study to open a "Low interest Loan for Low Income" business based on a separate stand-alone business.

We were also reminded of the abundance of information on the famvin.org family of websites that promotes understanding of Poverty and how to bring about Systemic Change.

1. Famvin News is a website promoting mutual awareness of how the charism is being lived today across the Vincentian Family
2. Vin Formation is an environment for online teaching and learning for Vincentians.
3. Vincentian Encyclopedia (Wiki) is a cooperative way to compile and share reliable Vincentian reference information via the internet
4. Virtual Vins is bringing Vincentians together in a Facebook-like online community.

In conclusion this was a very useful and inspiring conference, a chance to meet, share ideas, and learn more about Systemic Change from our Vincentian Family.

Reported by Jere Hartnett systemicchange.ssvp@ssvp.on.ca