20/07/2024
.jpeg "185th anniversary of the institution of the International Council General (CGI)")
The idea of general rules was on the minds of all the founders. At the end of 1835, Bailly asked Lallier to draw it up. On December 8, at the general assembly, he read out some preliminary considerations, which were to appear in the Society’s Manual.
The first articles mention the objective and fundamental structures of the Society and the fifth the establishment of a General Council.
1. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul welcomes all young Christians who wish to unite in prayer and participate in the same works of charity, in whatever country they may be.
2 No charitable work should be considered foreign to the Society, even if the Society’s main objective is to visit poor families.
3. When, in a city, several young people belong to the Society […], this meeting is called a conference, which is the name under which the Society has come into existence.
4. When several conferences are established in a city, they are distinguished from each other by the name of the parish in which their members meet. They are united by a specific council which bears the name of the city in which it is established.
5. All the Conferences of the Society are united under a General Council.
The institution of the General Council was included in the reformulation of the statutes in 1839. Bailly was the General President and Ozanam was in charge of drafting the report, which was sent to all the Conferences.
This July, we Vincentians celebrate the 185th anniversary of the establishment of the General Council, both in the reformulation of the internal regulations and in the approval by the General Assembly, even though the Council was not actually constituted until January 1841.
We ask for prayers that the General Council will continue to bring the message of peace, unity and hope to all our members and to those in need around the world.