Contemplation: Not a Separation but a Bond

Contemplation: Not a Separation but a Bond https://members.ssvpusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/contemp022026b.png 720 626 Tim Williams Tim Williams https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/3b9294bd74952e39774c0341c6d92d539de730b6e2b64689bfb5a5a2c7c58683?s=96&d=mm&r=g February 22, 2026 February 22, 2026

Leer en Español

By Timothy P. Williams, Senior Director of Formation and Leadership Development

Among the four Permanent Principles of Catholic Social Doctrine is subsidiarity, by which we preserve the dignity of each person, and of each organization by reserving to them the decisions which affect them most directly, and which they can best fulfill. [cf. CSDC, IV] As a faithful Catholic organization, then, it is only logical that “The Society embraces the Principle of Subsidiarity as its basic standard of operation.” [Rule, Part I, 3.9]

This principle is most often invoked to explain the relationship of Conferences to Councils, and Councils to higher level Councils, all the way to the Council General. The first significant addition to the Rule pertained to the addition of Councils, which, it said, existed primarily to provide “unity of direction in important matters, and great freedom for action of each Conference in the details of its works.” [1841 Rule, Ch. II] The current Rule continues to explain the role of Councils in very similar terms.

As then-President-General Bailly explained in 1841, “a Council … is rather a link than a power… to explain or solve the difficulties which arise naturally in a young Society. But all this has been imposed on no one, all is freely accepted, followed, and may be abandoned.” [Bailly, Circ. Ltr. 1841]

Although it can be tempting to view all this as justification to ignore everything our higher Councils recommend to us, a more complete understanding of subsidiarity must include its mutual nature. The word itself derives from the Latin subsidium, meaning “support.” The term was used by Roman armies to refer to forces held in reserve, or reinforcements. The purpose of reinforcements is of course not to consume or command the regular forces, but to strengthen and help them.

While establishing new Conferences in his home city of Lyon in 1836, Frédéric expressed this relationship in a letter to Emmanuel Bailly, explaining that just the first Conference had once benefitted from Bailly’s “advice and example,” it would become the highest priority to enable the new members to have the same benefit by establishing these new Conferences “in union with the society of Paris. Our work here is nascent, but it is living. It is feeble, but it can become strong by preserving its bonds with the mother work.” [135, to Bailly, 1836]

Subsidiarity, then, is not a hierarchy but a union; not a separation but a bond; a mark of neither dependence nor independence, but of “a true and unique worldwide Community of Vincentian friends.” [Rule, Part I, 3.3] As Bailly explained, between Councils and Conferences “there is neither authority nor obedience; there may be deference and advice; there is certainly, above all, charity; there are the same end, the same good works; there is a union of hearts in Jesus Christ our Lord.” [Bailly, Circ. Ltr., 1841]

Contemplate

Does my Conference seek advice and example from its Council? Does my Council offer support and freedom to its Conferences?

Contemplación: No una separación, sino un vínculo

Traducción de Sandra Joya

Entre los cuatro Principios Permanentes de la Doctrina Social Católica se encuentra la subsidiariedad, mediante la cual preservamos la dignidad de cada persona y de cada organización, reservándoles las decisiones que les afectan más directamente y que mejor pueden cumplir. [cf. CSDC, IV] Como organización católica fiel, es lógico que «La Compañía adopte el Principio de Subsidiariedad como su norma básica de funcionamiento». [Regla, Parte I, 3.9]

Este principio se invoca con mayor frecuencia para explicar la relación de las Conferencias con los Consejos, y de estos con los Consejos de nivel superior, hasta llegar al Consejo General. La primera adición significativa a la Regla se refiere a la incorporación de los Consejos, que, según se afirma, existían principalmente para proporcionar «unidad de dirección en asuntos importantes y gran libertad de acción a cada Conferencia en los detalles de sus trabajos». [Regla de 1841, Cap. II] La Regla actual continúa explicando la función de los Consejos en términos muy similares.

Como explicó el entonces Presidente General Bailly en 1841, «un Consejo… es más un vínculo que un poder… para explicar o resolver las dificultades que surgen naturalmente en una Sociedad joven. Pero todo esto no se ha impuesto a nadie; todo se acepta, se sigue y puede abandonarse libremente». [Bailly, Carta Circular 1841]

Aunque puede resultar tentador considerar todo esto como una justificación para ignorar todo lo que nuestros Consejos superiores nos recomiendan, una comprensión más completa de la subsidiariedad debe incluir su naturaleza mutua. La palabra en sí deriva del latín subsidium, que significa «apoyo». El término era utilizado por los ejércitos romanos para referirse a las fuerzas mantenidas en reserva o refuerzos. El propósito de los refuerzos, por supuesto, no es consumir ni comandar las fuerzas regulares, sino fortalecerlas y ayudarlas.

Al fundar nuevas Conferencias en su ciudad natal, Lyon, en 1836, Federico expresó esta relación en una carta a Emmanuel Bailly, explicando que, si bien la primera Conferencia se había beneficiado una vez de los consejos y el ejemplo de Bailly, sería la máxima prioridad permitir que los nuevos miembros obtuvieran el mismo beneficio estableciendo estas nuevas Conferencias «en unión con la sociedad de París. Nuestra obra aquí es incipiente, pero viva. Es débil, pero puede fortalecerse preservando sus vínculos con la obra madre». [135, a Bailly, 1836]

La subsidiariedad, entonces, no es una jerarquía, sino una unión; no es una separación, sino un vínculo; una marca ni de dependencia ni de independencia, sino de «una verdadera y única Comunidad mundial de amigos vicencianos». [Regla, Parte I, 3.3] Como explicó Bailly, entre los Consejos y las Conferencias «no hay autoridad ni obediencia; puede haber deferencia y consejo; sin duda, hay, sobre todo, caridad; hay el mismo fin, las mismas buenas obras; hay unión de corazones en Jesucristo nuestro Señor». [Bailly, Carta Circular, 1841]

Contemplar

¿Mi Conferencia busca el consejo y el ejemplo de su Consejo? ¿Mi Consejo ofrece apoyo y libertad a sus Conferencias?

5 Comments

Jody Kasten February 23, 2026 at 11:49 am

The bond between Conference and higher Councils is a beautiful way to describe the mutuality of relationship! This is a wonderful correlation of the unity required for subsidiarity to thrive. “One Society” provides the foundational unity upon which subsidiarity is built. Without unity first, there is risk of losing identity as the Society of St Vincent de Paul – in the same way that a river without banks is just water. Thank you, Tim!

Larry Gonzales February 23, 2026 at 2:31 pm

In theory, this is all well and good, but the fact of the matter is that things changed significantly in 2018 when National ended the group 510(c)3 exemption and the recommended structure required Councils to obtain 501(c)3 exemption and become single business entities with dozens of conferences reporting to those Councils. This is a business relationship, controlled by Federal and State laws and it very clearly requires a superior relationship of the Council in order to comply with the laws. It requires the Councils assert authority and require obedience in matters of business reporting and compliance or Councils risk losing the 501(c)3 exemption and/or the ability to operate in a State. This contemplation confuses the issue by not addressing this separate and different yet very real relationship that must exist.

- Tim Williams February 23, 2026 at 3:12 pm
  
  Thank you, Larry, for highlighting this area where our commitment to subsidiarity has worked so well, and remains very necessary.
  
  In 2018, the National Council advised local Councils and/or Conferences to apply for their own 501(c)(3) exemption in order to comply with government reporting requirements, based on recent decisions the IRS had made. The IRS requirements apply to everybody, Councils and Conferences.
  
  In this case, the National Council provided exactly the sort of advice that Bailly discussed, and Councils and Conferences around the country made their own local decisions about the best way to proceed.
  
  Many local Councils chose to include all Conferences within a single 501(c)(3) as the best way to serve them and preserve their freedom to operate without excessive administrative burdens, which the Council bears on their behalf. In other areas, Conferences have chosen to form individual 501(c)(3) structures and reporting. In each of these cases, the decision was a local one.
  
  This does set up, as you point out, a legal relationship in addition to the foundational and fundamental Vincentian relationship. It is very important for members and leaders to prayerfully remember and faithfully fulfill the commitments we have made to one another when choosing these structures, with Councils continuing to serve Conferences, just as any corporation serves its shareholders.
  
  It is our commitment to subsidiarity, along with our Cultural Belief in Accountability, that makes this work best.
  
peter zemelka February 24, 2026 at 2:11 pm

Some of the religious organizations, (like the sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN), Ky., although they claim linkages to St. Vincent de Paul but they do not mention/celebrate Louise de Marillac–forerunner of the Daughters’ of Charity) — SCN developed independently (17 and 18 centuries) and established their own traditions–per historical precedence. Today SCN has a very active international missionary program in India, South America, Africa and elsewhere, and a lay apostolate program. I am the product of the sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN), Ky, and get a calendar from them each year. Missing in their calendar is the feast day of Blessed Ozanam in September and other 1800 SVDP saints. Instead, SCN celebrates rather their own foundress–Sr. Catherin Spalding–and ear marks other important people/events from their own linked missions in India, Africa, etc. on their calendar. Of note is that there are yet no canonized or beautified saints from the SCN. Although when Pope John Paul II visited St. Louis for a few hours, by invitation from the reigning Archbishop, he bypassed the Archdiocese of Louisville. Yet for the SCN, there remains a strong bond to SVDP and perhaps to the other Sisters of Charity outside of Kentucky but not necessarily to The Rule.

- Tim Williams February 25, 2026 at 8:42 am
  
  The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth is one of many hundreds of organizations in our Vincentian Family. They were originally modeled after St Elizabeth Ann Seton’s Sisters of Charity, beginning with a copy of the Common Rules of Saint Vincent de Paul from Emmitsburg. The Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth were an offshoot of the SCN. You can learn much more about the Vincentian Family in Sr. Betty Ann McNeil’s “Vincentian Family Tree“.

Contemplation: Not a Separation but a Bond