On November 27, the feast of the Miraculous Virgin, the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul welcomed a new canonical province to the Order: Spain Center.
In total, the new province is made up of a thousand religious working for the poorest in the autonomous communities of Madrid, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia and La Rioja.
This new province also marked the beginning of the work of the Provincial Council presided over by Sr. Mª Concepción Monjas Pérez as Visitatrix. On this occasion, Omnes interviewed the new Visitatrix who pointed out, among other things, the emergence of "new forms of poverty" in which the Daughters of Charity work and the future based on the shared mission with the laity.
- How does the new province assume the development of its foundational charism? Why was it decided to create this province?
The Province assumes the development of its foundational charism as the provinces of Madrid-Saint Louise and Madrid-Saint Vincent have been doing so far: with a deep ecclesial sense, with a very great concern for meeting the needs of our time and being very attentive to the needs of the poor. All this always in accordance with the legacy of St. Vincent and St. Louise.
The Daughters of Charity are undergoing a reorganization. There are 12,800 of us in the world and the decrease in the number of Sisters has led the Superiors General to reorganize the provinces. It is an organization that aims to keep apostolic vitality very much in mind.
The world changes at great speed and the Daughters of Charity were born to be inserted in it and to make the Gospel and charity present in the midst of people who suffer.
- You have pointed out the need for renewal of structures without forgetting the charism itself. How do you concretize this renewal today? What are the present and future challenges of the Daughters of Charity?
This renewal is posed by the current situation itself: the situation of migrants, the situations of violence of all kinds, the violation of human rights?
All this is what urges us to live this renewal, which is basically an updated response to what St. Vincent wanted to do in the 17th century: to continue to be a presence of God's mercy in the midst of a world of suffering. Of course, this renewal requires collaboration with the laity who are a fundamental part of our action and also with the Church.
Synodality is the key to continue making the Vincentian charism a reality in the midst of the world. We have just celebrated a General Assembly and it has presented us with some very important challenges to respond to the human rights that have been violated: the care of the common home, the care of creation, the mysticism of living together in collaboration and fraternity and the transmission of the faith with the Gospel to young people. These would be our four challenges for the present and for the future.
- How can we encourage vocations to a life of dedication and service such as that of a Daughter of Charity?
It is difficult to answer this question because the truth is that this vocation is very current and yet we find it difficult to pass it on and transmit it. This is one of the great challenges: to be able to transmit this passion for God and for humanity to young women. We are looking for ways to make it a reality.
-The Daughters of Charity are one of the best known and most loved communities for their work in caring for the most vulnerable. How is this activity structured and developed today? Are there new forms of poverty, new vulnerabilities?
We are currently detecting new forms of poverty such as the situations in which migrants live, human trafficking and gender violence. We have created an interprovincial community in Melilla to respond to all these border situations and we are very attentive to everything that arises in our fields of service.
St. Vincent asked us to be very attentive to the poor because that makes our structures more agile: we organize and reorganize them according to the needs. I would say that today, the strong point is the "shared mission" with the laity in all fields of service.
