WelCom February/March 2025
Gerry Stevens, National President, Society of St Vincent de Paul in New Zealand
State of the Nation’ speeches are very popular among politicians, though the cynical part of me believes they are mainly used to either justify what they have done or what they are about to do. I have waited in vain for a speech that outlines a dream or vision for the future.
‘Where to from Here’ is probably a better heading.
Traditionally, in New Zealand, nearly every parish had a Conference of the St Vincent de Paul Society. In most cases they reflected the life of the parish and were often mirrors of the parish life.
If that is the case, then today we have a similar manifestation – but reflecting a very different story.
Shrinking attendance, ageing parishioners and a shortage of clergy, sees parishes closing, churches shut down and local church communities disappearing as parishioners struggle to cope with the new environment. Many younger people no longer see the need to attend church.
In the Society we too face an ageing and shrinking membership, empty leadership positions and an unwillingness or an inability to commit long term. Younger people don’t see us as being relevant in the way we operate. And the difficulty of working within today’s legislative environment also adds to the membership problem.
In the sixties Pope John 23rd asked us to open up to the world, and Pope Francis, in turn echoed that call in telling us we had to be outward looking. There was no ‘Dummies Book on How to be Open and Outward Looking’ to tell us how to do this and while we struggled along came computers and the Information Age to add to the turmoil. Things could only get worse, and they did with the Abuse Scandals and the worldwide Covid pandemic. Now, we are trying to deal with today, while using yesterday’s methods and tools.
Religion no longer holds the ‘Mana’ of the old days. The rule-based certainty has gone, to be replaced with questions, science and Google, with of course the ultimate question of ‘what’s in it for ME?’ No mention of ‘US!’.
“Today, like Frederic Ozanam, we need to Re-found our Society. Find radically new ways of bridging the gap between Christ’s mission and the world in which we now live.”
We have tried Refocus, Renewal, Recovery, Renovation and all the other ‘Re-s’ with limited or no success. All these have focused on the symptoms of the problem rather than the roots. When a person is ill, we must deal with the symptoms of their illness, but common-sense dictates we must also deal with the root cause of the illness in first place. I would suggest our root cause is that we have lost sight of the Mission of our Society.
When Frederic Ozanam and his friends started the first Conference in 1833 it was in an environment of violent political unrest, extreme poverty and epidemics with no health system and a Church that couldn’t decide where it fitted in. Frederic, a devout Catholic and a man of great faith, formed a group (Conference) to discuss how a Christianity of loving God and loving your neighbour, had helped and was continuing to help shape the world for the better. After being challenged by a non-Christian to ‘show us your works’ he very quickly realised that Loving your Neighbour in practical ways helped you grow your personal faith. The two great Commandments, Love God and Love your Neighbour are interconnected. You can’t have one without the other. Loving faith leads to good works and Frederic and his friends began visiting the Poor with simple practical gifts of firewood to help with heating their slum homes. They went to the Poor because they knew Jesus himself spent most of his time with the Poor and could always be found among them.
Frederic ‘Re-found’ his faith. He looked back to the Founder of his faith, Jesus Christ, and understood how Jesus loved the Father and wanted to share that love with all, particularly the Poor. That was Jesus’ Mission and Frederic found new ways of carrying out that Mission – ways suitable to his time and environment.
Today, like Frederic, we need to Re-found our Society. Find radically new ways of bridging the gap between Christ’s mission and the world in which we now live.
My Dream for the future is for a Conference to be a place where Vincentians come together as one to grow their faith through love and care for each other; working together to share that love with the Poor in practical and personal ways while passing no judgments.
As a very wise man told me many, many years ago; ‘Just Love them, Gerry, Just Love them’.
However, the reality is that doing all this is not going to be easy. The world we live in is, as my father used to say, ‘going to Hell in a handcart’. The world, including many Institutions, is in a crisis, politically, environmentally and spiritually. We are frightened and worried as we travel this journey, knowing whatever happens we will be different at the end. We can draw comfort from the story of Jesus and the Apostles travelling across the lake in their boat when a storm blew up. They were in a crisis, and in their panic, they demanded help from Jesus. ‘Be not afraid’ he said as he calmed the storm, and they made it safely to the other side with strengthened faith and hearts full of joy.
Those three words ‘be not afraid’ fill us with hope that we will end our journey better, full of faith, joy and peace. We have created something new!