Communications were as central to Vincent’s first missions as they are for the Vincentian Family’s work today. Vincent repeatedly underlined the importance of clarity in communicating with one another and to the wider public. ‘Nothing is more necessary,’ he told the Daughters of Charity. Fr Robert Maloney analyses this theme in Vincent’s extensive writing. Through this, he shows how Vincent regularly informed his community of foreign activities, prescribed accurate note-taking in conferences and encouraged open and honest dialogue with superiors and colleagues. Communication also became an essential fundraising tool. The Ladies of Charity published the Relations. This leaflet communicated the Vincentian Family’s work in regions devastated by war and in so doing raised donations from its thousands of readers. Fr Maloney concludes that today, as then, clear and concise communication is vital for effective charity.
Read the article: Robert Maloney CM, Importance of Communication in the Life and Writings of Vincent de Paul
Questions:
- Learning from Vincent, how can we as a group better communicate with each other?
- What lessons can we take from how the early Vincentian Family used communication to raise funds for their work?