2010 Theme - Vincentian Legacy and
Destiny: Changing the World with Charity and Justice
Live the Gospel by words and
works; that is the most perfect way!
~St. Vincent de Paul
January 25-30, 2010
16th Annual Founder’s Week
In 2010 we celebrate the 350th anniversary of the deaths of St.
Louise de Marillac and St. Vincent de Paul. Saints Louise and
Vincent were persons who lived the gifts of faith, hope and love
and created an extraordinary mission, a mission that has grown in
creative fidelity during their lives and for the 350 years since
their deaths. Pope Benedict recognized their
fidelity to the Gospel. In his encyclical Deus Caritas Est,
he stated that “St. Vincent and St. Louis exercised charity in an
exemplary way – as models of social charity and as true bearers of
light within history.”
During this 16th annual celebration of Founder’s Week at St. John’s
University, we look backward so we might move forward with the
mission of love and justice in very challenging times. Our times
are marked by economic fragility, great disparity between rich and
poor, war, and a loss of moral values. We also must
admit that many social, economic and moral structures deny human
rights to many and fail to recognize the human dignity of all
persons. Vincent and Louise also recognized and met these
challenges in the 17th century.
As part of the Vincentian Family, St. John’s University, founded by
the Congregation of the Mission in 1870 continues the Vincentian
mission by offering higher education that is enriched with Gospel
values and empowers youth and others to change the world through
the practice of charity and justice. Broad access to higher
education reinforces human dignity and encourages leadership in the
world community. Our students learn to live mission.
Our faculty research and teach this mission. Our alumni
continue the Vincentian mission in varied careers. For 140
years, the St. John’s University community of faculty, students,
employees and alumni have joined the Congregation of the Mission,
Daughters of Charity, the Ladies of Charity, the Sisters of
Charity, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, along with other
branches of the Vincentian family in living the Gospel of love and
justice in service of people who are poor, oppressed and
marginalized. We must meet the challenge of continuing their
mission in the 21st Century. May this celebration deepen our
appreciation of the legacy and sharpen the vision of our
destiny.