A $1 million gift to DePaul University from the Congregation of the Mission will perpetuate collaboration on academic scholarship and spiritual heritage activities vital to DePaul's Catholic, Vincentian mission. (Photo courtesy of Tom Evans.)CHICAGO — The Congregation of the Mission, the global, Catholic society of Apostolic Life founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1625, is continuing its long history of close collaboration with DePaul University through a $1 million gift. The generous commitment provides funds for essential programming that supports this integral relationship and its shared Vincentian mission.
The Vincentian Order, as the society is also known, has a deep history of philanthropy related to its sponsorship of DePaul, which was founded by the Vincentians in 1898.
“I am deeply grateful to the Congregation of the Mission for their meaningful commitment. Their support ensures that our Catholic, Vincentian charisms — service, community, and a belief in the dignity of every person — will continue to thrive in all we do at DePaul,” said DePaul President
Robert L. Manuel. “This gift strengthens not only our connection to our founders, but also our ability to prepare students to carry that mission forward for generations to come.”
The gift supports the Vincentian Heritage Initiative, strengthening critical activities in the Vincentian tradition on DePaul’s campus.
“I was fortunate to experience the DePaul community as a chaplain in Catholic Campus Ministry," says Fr. Joseph Williams, C.M., Provincial Superior of the Congregation’s
Western Province, DePaul Board of Trustees member and former pastor at St. Vincent de Paul Church on the university’s Lincoln Park Campus. “We must continue to engage with the Vincentian living history and scholarship this gift perpetuates among our Vincentian family at DePaul University and for the parish. DePaul’s shared stewardship of this heritage plays an important role in keeping St. Vincent de Paul’s mission alive and vital.”
The gift establishes the Vincentian Heritage Initiative Endowment, which funds
Vincentian Heritage trips for DePaul faculty, staff and students. DePaul’s Division of Mission and Ministry helps participants deepen their understanding of the university’s patron by facilitating guided study tours to locations throughout France associated with the life and works of St. Vincent de Paul or other sites related to the historical or contemporary works of the Congregation of the Mission.
Another portion of the funding supports an endowment for the Vincentian Studies Institute (VSI). Founded in 1979 and housed at DePaul since 1995, the institute’s mission is to promote an interest in the historical and spiritual heritage of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac, including but not limited to VSI publications, workshops, trips and outreach to scholars. Research grants awarded by the institute to individual and institutional applicants have helped fund projects that further historical and present-day scholarship on the Vincentian tradition.
The gift also provides support for the collection, preservation and sharing of primary source materials in the DePaul Library’s Special Collections and Archives, which serves as the steward of the
Vincentian Archives. The archives include historical documents, letters and manuscripts as well as maps, holy cards and postcards focused on Vincentian heritage. Its collection of handwritten letters by St. Vincent de Paul is the largest outside Europe and is the cornerstone of the archives.
“It’s inspiring to see our shared Vincentian mission continue to be so steadfastly supported by the Congregation of the Mission,” says Mark Laboe, interim vice president of the
Division of Mission and Ministry. “DePaul University wouldn’t be what it is today — an institution of academic excellence and service to community that welcomes all — without the Vincentian foundation that defines those qualities. This gift preserves that heritage while also ensuring it remains an active, living pursuit that inspires our students, faculty and staff on a daily basis.”
###
Media Contact:
312-241-9856