Federation of Vincentian Communities

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The Federation Vincentian communities is an amalgamation of several Congregations of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul or Vincentians ( Latin Puellae Caritatis , French Filles de la Charité de Saint Vincent de Paul , religious symbol FdC in Austria and BHS ) and part of the Vincentian Family , which is based on Saint Vincent de Paul .

The origin of the Sisters of Mercy goes back to the branch of the Paulus Sisters of Chartres founded in 1734 by Prince Bishop Armand Gaston de Rohan-Soubise in Strasbourg . From Alsace , the community expanded into German-speaking countries in the middle of the 19th century and several independent congregations ( mother houses ) were founded. In 1970 they joined forces with the community of origin to form a federation . In the second half of the 20th century, further foundings were established in Asia, Africa and South America.

The main tasks of the sisters are care of the sick and the elderly as well as upbringing and education. Many Vincentians are also active in missions . The total number of members of the Federation of Vincentian Communities is about 4,500 Sisters.

The badge of the Sisters of Mercy is the anchor cross , a cross enclosed by a diamond with a shorter lower longitudinal bar and an anchor.

Founding history

Vincent von Paul, whose social commitment earned him the nickname saint of charity , founded the Filles de la Charité (Daughters of Christian Love ) , a community of sisters for the service of nursing , together with Louise de Marillac in Paris in 1633 . At that time, the founders expressly did not want to found an order , since religious life for women was only compatible with a cloistered way of life. However, the Vincentian Sisters left the monastery to nurse the sick. In 1695 the parish priest Louis Chauvet requested the sending of sisters from Paris to take care of the sick in his village of Levesville near Chartres . But because no sisters could be sent, he founded a religious order, the Paul Sisters . These in turn trained young women from Alsace in 1732 , who two years later returned to their home in Zabern near Strasbourg and worked there as nurses. Bishop Armand Gaston de Rohan-Soubise (1674–1749) founded the community of women who called themselves Sisters of Mercy and who saw Vincent de Paul as their spiritual father. From Strasbourg the community spread to Germany and Austria.

At the suggestion of the Second Vatican Council , some of these independent congregations in Germany joined together in 1970 to form a federation, which was then also joined by the Austrian branches. On October 7, 1994, the Federation's affiliation with the Lazarists and the Daughters of Christian Love was solemnly carried out.

structure

The following congregations belong to the Federation of Vincentian Communities (as of 2012):

The Austrian branches Graz / Salzburg are not derived from Strasbourg, but are a province of the Parisian Daughters of Christian Love and also call themselves Sisters of Charity . Many of the Vinzentinerinnen hospitals work together in the Vinzenz Group .

In South Tyrol there is both a province connected to Zams with headquarters in Bolzano and one in Merano that is dependent on the parent company in Innsbruck. The Bolzano sisters run the Jesuheim in Girlan, the Merano sisters run the Martinsbrunn private clinic with the South Tyrolean palliative center.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The members of the federation at a glance ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) , barmherzige-schwestern-foederation.de, accessed December 23, 2012
  2. ↑ a b Bolzano Provincial House ( Memento from February 26, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , mutterhaus-zams.at
  3. ^ Branch in Moro / Peru ( Memento from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , mutterhaus-zams.at
  4. ^ Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of St. Vincent von Paul in Innsbruck ( Memento of April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ); Merciful Sisters of Saint Vincent von Paul in Innsbruck , Department for the cultural assets of the orders, kulturgueter.kath-orden.at
  5. ↑ a b Merano Provincial House ( Memento from April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , barmherzige-schwestern.at
  6. ↑ Provincial House Treviso ( Memento of April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) , barmherzige-schwestern.at
  7. ^ Mission in Tanzania ( Memento from September 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , barmherzige-schwestern.at
  8. ↑ BHS Vienna , barmherzigeschwestern-wien.at;
    Merciful Sisters of Saint Vincent de Paul in Vienna-Gumpendorf , Department for the cultural assets of the orders, kulturgueter.kath-orden.at
  9. ↑ barmherzige-schwestern.at , joint website of the Vincentian Sisters in Austria