The Congregation of the Mission is a community of Roman Catholic priests and brothers founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1625 for the evangelization of the poor and the formation of the clergy. Vincentian priests and brothers total over 4000 worldwide and serve in 86 countries.
Members of the community serve Christ in varied capacities including direct service to the poor who live in garbage dumps, operating a radio station in the shadow of an oppressive political regime, working as pastors, teachers and university presidents.
Vincent de Paul was born in the village of Pouy in 1581. As a boy he lived among the poor and experienced the conditions under which they lived. In 1600 he became a priest. For a time he sought to escape from the poverty of his origins, but with the help of spiritual directors he felt himself called to deeper holiness and, through the events of his life, was finally led by divine providence to a firm determination to dedicate himself to the salvation of the poor. While he was exercising his ministry in Gannes and, on the 25th of January 1617, in Folleville, he saw that the evangelization of the poor was an urgent need. He himself held that this was the origin of his vocation, and of the Congregation of the Mission.
Father G. Gregory Gay III,C.M. a Baltimore native, was elected as the worldwide superior general of the Congregation of the Mission, known as the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers, and the Daughters of Charity during the community’s general assembly (June 5 – 29, 2004)in Rome in 2004.
Father Gay, a graduate of John Carroll High School in Bel Air, Maryland oversees almost 4,000 Vincentian priests and brothers and more than 23,000 Daughters of Charity in 84 countries. He himself entered USA Vincentian Eastern Province in 1973 and was ordained priest in 1980.
Born in 1953 priest is the 23rd successor of St. Vincent de Paul, who founded the Congregation in 1625, and the second Baltimorean to hold the position of Superior General. (more)
Content here for where the CM is present; provinces, works, etc.
In their time St. Vincent and St. Louise lived the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were led by the power of this Spirit, a power that was shown in their zeal and charity and in a dynamic mission. The Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, the Ladies of Charity were living testimony of this creativity born out of the Spirit.
After their death in 1660, the Spirit of the Lord continued to release its creative force, giving rise to movements and communities who saw in the Vincentian charism a solid spirituality, forever young, and above all a living response to Church and society. This is a universal vision of the Vincentian Family: International Association of Charities, Congregation of the Mission, Daughters of Charity, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and other branches.
General Assembly 2010
The 41st General Assembly of the Congregation of the Mission was held in Paris from June 28-July 16, 2010. The motto of the GA2010 was “Creative Fidelity to the Mission.” The Superior General with his Council, in a letter dated April 14, 2008, announced that the theme of the Assembly as: ”Faithful to the gospel…attentive to the signs of the times…open up new ways and use new means…remain in a continual state of renewal” (cf. C. 2).
Vincent de Paul was born in the village of Pouy in 1581. As a boy he lived among the poor and experienced the conditions under which they lived. In 1600 he became a priest. For a time he sought to escape from the poverty of his origins, but with the help of spiritual directors he felt himself called to deeper holiness and, through the events of his life, was finally led by divine providence to a firm determination to dedicate himself to the salvation of the poor. While he was exercising his ministry in Gannes and, on the 25th of January 1617, in Folleville, he saw that the evangelization of the poor was an urgent need. He himself held that this was the origin of his vocation, and of the Congregation of the Mission.
Father G. Gregory Gay III,C.M. a Baltimore native, was elected as the worldwide superior general of the Congregation of the Mission, known as the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers, and the Daughters of Charity during the community’s general assembly (June 5 – 29, 2004)in Rome in 2004.
In their time St. Vincent and St. Louise lived the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and were led by the power of this Spirit, a power that was shown in their zeal and charity and in a dynamic mission. The Congregation of the Mission, the Daughters of Charity, the Ladies of Charity were living testimony of this creativity born out of the Spirit.