The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, also known as Conferences of Saint Vincent de Paul, was founded in Paris in 1833 by a group of young laymen. It is a Catholic voluntary organisation of lay men and women dedicated to providing personal help to people in any kind of need.

 

Our work is based on direct, one-to-one interaction with people in need, no matter what their origin or belief.  We visit them in their own place, whether that is their home, a residential home, hospital, on the streets or in prison, wherever they are, offering our friendship as the basis for all the other help we give.

 

The Conferences of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the basic units of the organisation, normally meet weekly to discuss the business of helping the poor in their own area, normally their parish. Within each conference, the members live a rich, spiritual, community life.

 

There are around 51,000 conferences in the world, with over 700,000 members. Working with the members, in particular tasks to help different groups of people (children, the elderly, the sick, schools, hospitals, etc.) are more than 1,500,000 volunteers, throughout the world, since there are Conferences of the SVP in 142 countries.

The Council General of the Conferences of Saint Vincent represents the conferences at an international level. Its offices have been in Paris since the Society was founded in 1833.