Vincentian professionalism

How Do We Operationalize Dignity?

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Written By: Siobhan O’Donoghue, PhD, Director of Faculty and Staff Engagement, Division of Mission and Ministry

Some of you reading this may be familiar with the Chicago street named Ozanam Avenue, but how many know who this street is named after? Frédéric Ozanam was a French Catholic literary scholar, lawyer, professor, social advocate, and lay Catholic leader. Of all the Vincentian Family members, Ozanam has always had a special place in my heart. For me, he models something essential about how we can make our Vincentian mission concrete through our actions.

I first learned of Ozanam when I was a teenager at school in the UK. Inspired by the idea of a faith that does justice and eager to engage in community service, I had joined a school-based conference of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Ozanam, as I soon learned, was the principal founder of the original society. He had founded the organization with a group of friends in 1833 while a university student. They named it after St. Vincent de Paul because he was considered “a national hero of social service” and admired by many in France, even those who were anti-Church. [1] The members’ goal was to help those who were poor, while at the same time developing their own faith. Keen to learn more about him, I happened upon a biography about Ozanam called Apostle in a Top Hat. Today, I might be inclined to be more discerning when choosing a biography. But at that time, the idea of interrogating a text for its authenticity was beyond me. For me, Ozanam represented a social justice icon and a man who was set on fire by a quest for faith and justice. His journey spoke deeply to my idealistic self. I devoured the book and have never forgotten the cover: a Victorian gentleman tipping an impossibly large top hat!

As I think back, our school-based St. Vincent de Paul Society was a modest entity. A motley crew of awkward, if well-meaning teenagers who, while moderately concerned about the state of the world, were primarily driven by the idea of long summer afternoons of not having to be in class. Our mission was to visit people in their homes who were seeking some kind of support, listen to them, and try to alleviate some of their needs with our adolescent vigor, then report back to the group on their well-being. We would also pray for, and sometimes with, those we visited. Our group was supported by a school chaplain, who could provide a higher level of intervention, if it was warranted.

Often, such home visits meant simply sitting with people in the humblest of homes and, in a show of true British hospitality, sharing a cup of tea, biscuits, and a listening ear, while they recounted the trials and tribulations of their days. While hardly backbreaking work or enacting any admirable social change, it was a powerful act of recognizing the dignity of another, and a way of saying, “We see you and we care.” We were grateful for the experience. We even got to feel somewhat proud of our adolescent selves, out serving in the community, no matter our real motivation for such engagement. In his time, Ozanam came to believe that face-to-face contact with poor families provided him with invaluable experiential learning, which in turn caused him to profoundly reshape his perceptions. My own experience of being a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society also challenged my preconceived (and sometimes ill-informed) notions of poverty and social deprivation and reinforced for me the essentiality of interpersonal connection.

Today, the St. Vincent de Paul Society continues to be active in 155 countries. It has 800,000 members across 48,000 conferences, along with 1.5 million volunteers and collaborators. They serve over 30 million people worldwide every day. Conferences are based in churches, schools, community centers, hospitals, etc. [2] Their mission continues to be to offer support to people in need, particularly those living in poverty. The home visit remains an integral part of the service they provide. In this way, their ministry harkens back to the time of Ozanam when members would take firewood, food, and money to the homes of those who were poor. Yet, even in the days of the original conferences, it was never about the firewood, or the provision of goods, or funds. Rather it was about the compassionate spirit with which the members approached the visits. While certainly home visits were never the most efficient way to deliver assistance, they served as an important way to honor the dignity of the other by providing a moment of true presence and care, in a world that was often too busy to take the time to invest in such relationality. It is the spirit of love, respect, justice, hope, and joy that still defines this work, through which the members strive to shape a more just and compassionate world.

Admittedly, making home visits can be personally inconvenient and can even feel a little awkward. However, this simple act of humanity can transform a transactional service delivery into a meaningful encounter of mutuality, thus inviting a bond of intimacy, which no technological operation could ever provide. As Ozanam recognized, personal visits were a point of mutual exchange where both the visitor and the visited were beneficiaries. [3] This model of the home visit further hearkens back to the legacy of Vincent de Paul and the familiar story of the white tablecloth, a metaphor that calls us to approach all we do with the utmost care for the dignity of others. [4]

So, what wisdom might the humble home visit offer to us at DePaul today? In addressing this, I find myself recalling a question that a faculty member once posed to me after she had read DePaul’s new mission statement: “Dignity is a great concept, but how do we operationalize it?” I believe that the wisdom of the home visit can help us address this complex question, since the same personalism lies at its very heart and is modeled at DePaul each and every day. For, while the provision of concrete resources to help address a need is essential, it is the gift of sincere listening and a compassionate heart that defines us and makes all the difference.

Essentially, it is the spirit of love, respect, care, and empathy, and the commitment to right relationship that must inform how we support our students—and each other—at DePaul. Personalism must never be overshadowed by a mentality of just getting the job done in the most efficient way possible if it crowds out the personhood of those standing in front of us. Indeed, personalism must continue to define any institution that calls itself Vincentian. While efficiency and effectiveness are certainly important, personalism must continue to shape who we are and inform who we are called to be, just as it did in the time of Ozanam, and certainly in the days of Vincent and Louise before him. We come from a rich tradition, and it is up to us to live out its rich legacy.

Reflection questions:

  1. When was the last time you encountered personalism at DePaul?
  2. What might it look like for efficiency and personalism to exist seamlessly at DePaul?

Reflection by: Siobhan O’Donoghue, PhD, Director of Faculty and Staff Engagement, Division of Mission and Ministry

[1] Thomas McKenna, C.M. “Frédéric Ozanam’s Tactical Wisdom for Today’s Consumer Society,” Vincentian Heritage 30:1 (2010): 11. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vhj/vol30/iss1/1.

[2] “Where Are We?” International Confederation of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, accessed January 29, 2025, https://www.ssvpglobal.org/where-we-are/.

[3] McKenna, “Frédéric Ozanam’s Tactical Wisdom,” 16.

[4] See “The Story of the White Tablecloth,” posted August 15, 2011 by Mission and Ministry DePaul University, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CgJVAC7Na8.

Welcome Joyfully the Opportunity to Serve

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Written by: Euan Hague, PhD, Vincent de Paul Professor of Geography and Director of the School of Public Service and the Student Urban Research Corps. Recipient of the Cortelyou-Lowery Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in 2024.

Group photo of SURC and community members from the SURC Showcase, September 2024

In a letter to Monsieur Horcholle written in June 1650, Vincent stated, “I will always welcome joyfully any opportunity that comes my way to be of service to you.” [1] Service to others runs through DePaul in all its aspects and operations. But what does it mean to serve, and how should service to others be pursued? In over twenty years as a faculty member, I have put service to the community at the center of my own teaching and scholarship. The challenge is always the relationship between the “opportunities that come my way to be of service,” the manner in which we serve others, and the coordination of that work. Community collaborations are not one-off meetings; they need consistent negotiation and management, both with the organization and with the students working on projects. Such work is itself service, because through it we channel the personalism and Vincentian commitment that “it is not enough to do good. It must be done well.” [2]

In 2021, with support from an external funder, I conceived of the Student Urban Research Corps, which I now lead. It is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Each year, a group of fifteen to twenty undergraduate and graduate students take on service projects to bring their skills into practice, working on community-defined research projects that assist organizations in their missions. From helping Lucky Jefferson to assess the publishing landscape faced by Black and other ethnic minority authors, to mapping the impactful events delivered by Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), in the past three years SURC projects have aided a dozen community organizations. In some instances, a community organization reaches out, not knowing quite what they want or how to achieve it, but knowing that something is needed, and that they would like DePaul’s support to attain it. In those cases, I meet with the organization, listen, learn about their needs and community, and make suggestions about the capacities and skills sets that our students can bring to understanding an issue. In other cases, I return to an organization that I’ve partnered with in the past, or an organization that I have become familiar with through other interactions and ask what projects would help to build capacity. In these conversations, I echo Madame de Gondi’s asking of Vincent, “What must be done?” [3]

Prof. Hague working with students: Lacy Wright, who is seated, and Chris Impellizeri, who is standing. Photo by Keeton Holder/DePaul University

Communities and their members know about themselves. Most do not want academics to impose agendas or questions on them. Rather, we serve by offering help to answer questions, to collaborate on finding solutions, and to enhance the capacity of groups to make decisions about their own futures. Students learn through engaging with organizations and interacting with the community members who have questions to ask and conversations to pursue. “Being able to work with and for community members and organizations through SURC has been a great opportunity to participate in social science research that is truly community-driven,” says Beata Neidhoefer (LAS ’25). “As a sociology major interested in research, I’m wary of the history of social science research as a process often detached from real peoples’ interests and needs. SURC provides a uniquely direct connection between community needs and student researchers’ skills, enabling us to use what we learn in the classroom in an applied, practical way while building technical and transferable skills and building professional relationships with community members.”

Whether DePaul faculty bring the community, through its members, onto DePaul’s campus, or go out, like Vincent, into the community to serve, the common aspect is that it takes work and an investment of time and energy from all parties. It takes time to build trust and collaborations, sometimes months or even years, and it takes time to work on projects that serve both the outcomes of the community and enhance student learning. Yet, this service follows another of Vincent’s calls to action: “Let’s work, let’s work, let’s go to the assistance of the poor country people who are waiting for us.” [4] Although I don’t think underserved and underrepresented communities are necessarily “waiting for us” in 2024, the call to go to assistance still resonates. We cannot only wait for opportunities to serve to come to us. We should seek out places where we can help, where our expertise and resources can make a difference in neighborhoods and communities across Chicago and beyond. Academic institutions are often derided as ivory towers where detached faculty and students talk and write esoterically about subjects. DePaul is different. Our mission, with its commitment to give “special attention to including underserved and underrepresented communities,” is central to the identity of the institution, which means it is central to the work we do as faculty, staff, and students at DePaul. To serve means to collaborate, to learn from residents and community groups, and to share DePaul’s resources, skills and expertise, with both professionalism and personalism.

“You can give me no greater consolation nor render greater service to your neighbor than to place yourself in a condition to serve him for a long time,” Vincent wrote to Jean Martin in May 1648. [5] DePaul has been serving Chicago since 1898. We and our students continue to serve.

Reflection Questions:

  • What does it mean to “welcome joyfully any opportunity that comes [your] way to be of service” in your work at DePaul?
  • How does your commitment to Vincent’s demand to go to the assistance of the poor reflect in your career at DePaul?

Reflection by: Euan Hague, PhD, Vincent de Paul Professor of Geography and Director of the School of Public Service and the Student Urban Research Corps. He received the Cortelyou-Lowery Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in 2024.

[1] Letter 1230a, “To Monsieur Horcholle, in Neufchâtel,” June 28, 1650, CCD, 4:41. Available online at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/29/.

[2] This popular quote cited often at DePaul is a rephrasing of Vincent’s words. For the full quote, see: Conference 177, “Repetition of Prayer,” November 25,1657, CCD, 11:389. Available at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/37/.

[3] This is also a popular rephrasing. For the full quote, see: Conference 1, “The Vocation of a Missioner,” CCD, 11:3.

[4] Conference 177, “Repetition of Prayer,” CCD, 11:391.

[5] Letter 1037, “To Jean Martin, in Genoa,” May 22, 1648, CCD, 3:312. Available online at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/vincentian_ebooks/28/.

The Essential Ingredient

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DePaul University’s St. Vincent’s Circle celebrates its 20th anniversary October, 2015, since its dedication in 1995. (DePaul University/Josh Woo)

What does it mean for our beloved Vincentian mission to be integrated effectively into the daily life and work of the university community, in and out of the classroom?

This question is often top of mind for those of us working in Mission and Ministry and for many leaders for mission across the institution. Collectively, we hope that tangible evidence of our mission is woven regularly into the fabric and culture of all that happens at DePaul. Into the workplace environment. Into the classroom and the student experience. Into how decisions are made. Into plans for the future. Into how we evaluate our efforts and programs. In the way we frame our daily work as part of something bigger than ourselves. At DePaul, our mission is the essential ingredient mixed into all we do and create.

One theologian used the metaphor of yeast to describe the integration and flourishing of mission within Catholic universities in a pluralistic context. [1]  Another metaphor often referenced in the world of Catholic theology is that of seeds already present in different contexts and cultures, needing only to be nurtured to flourish. [2] You may recall a somewhat recent campaign we did at DePaul called “Seeds of the Mission,” which built on this idea. Both metaphors help us to recognize the ways in which our Catholic Vincentian mission is already present and has opportunities to grow and be deepened among us and in our shared work.

But what does mission integration mean?

As we reflect on our work in light of the ongoing responsibility to understand more about DePaul’s stated mission and its deeper Vincentian roots, a shorthand construct and starting point emerge from the recognition that our mission is relevant in several different ways:

Why? What is motivating and orienting our actions and choices? How do they reflect our fundamental purpose and deeper sense of vocation, individually and collectively, to contribute to a more just and compassionate society?

What? How do the choices we make about what we do or how we spend our time and resources reflect consideration of our mission? How do we include care and concern for those who are marginalized?

How? How does the way we do what we do reflect the personalism, professionalism, and institutional values that we have come to understand as essential to the Vincentian way?

Who? How do I understand my own unique vocation as a person, an educator, a professional, or a leader and how does this frame my specific work and role? And, how do those we include and invite reflect the rich diversity of our human community? Are we paying attention to equity, to who is “at the table,” and to those who may be excluded?

Of course, even responding to these questions and different dimensions of mission integration requires additional considerations if we are to move toward concrete action. This is the careful discernment and collective wisdom that precedes action and that we have reclaimed again recently as Vincentian Pragmatism, which is qualitatively different from “just do it.”

The vital work of mission integration requires intentionality and care on the part of everyone at DePaul. The distinctiveness and foundational spirit of our mission are sustained only when it is thoughtfully and habitually part of our daily actions and choices and the way we function together as a human community, whether that be facilitating programs for students, teaching, leading teams of people, making budget decisions, doing research, or relating to one another. Each of these actions can reflect the underlying spirit we have come to identify as characteristically Vincentian, infusing our DePaul community and the work we do with a deeper sense of purpose and what many of us deem a sacred dimension.

Reflection Questions:

Which of the mission integration questions or dimensions (why, what, how, and who) do you most easily answer in relation to how mission is relevant to your life and work at DePaul? Which is most difficult to answer and why?

What ideas do you have for further integrating or sustaining Vincentian mission in your own area of work or within the university community?

Reflection by: Mark Laboe, Interim VP for Mission and Ministry

[1] Walter Ong, SJ, “Yeast,” America April 7, 1990. Reprinted and available here: https://‌‌www.‌bc.edu/content/dam/files/offices/mission/pdf1/cu13.pdf. 

[2] The image of the “seeds of the Word” is used by Saint Justin Martyr in the second century and is highlighted often in the field of Catholic missiology. One helpful summary of this idea, framed by a larger conversation about the importance of interreligious dialogue, is written by one of the leading Catholic theologians in this field, Stephen Bevans, SVD. See his “Practices of Mission: Interreligious and Secular Dialogue,” convocation speech, 2013 Missional Church Convocation, July 2013, Chicago, IL, https://‌‌centerforparishdevelopment.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/interreligious/.