Vincentian Family Gathering: Pilgrims of Hope

By Eliz Hopkins, SVP Conference Secretary at St Christopher and St Thomas of Canterbury - Codsall & Tettenhall 

Celebrating the Jubilee Year at St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham

On Saturday 27 September 2025, the Feast of St Vincent de Paul, St Chad’s Cathedral hosted the Vincentian Family Gathering: Pilgrims of Hope, a Jubilee Year celebration uniting members of the Vincentian Family from across Great Britain.

This year’s event combined the annual Festival Mass of the Birmingham Central Council of the Society of St Vincent de Paul in England and Wales (SVP) with the Vincentian Family Gathering, originally planned for April in Westminster but postponed due to the death of Pope Francis and the election of Pope Leo XIV. Since Elaine Heyworth, National President of the SVP in England and Wales and Chair of the Vincentian Family in Great Britain, was already due to attend, the two celebrations were joyfully united.

The Vincentian Family

Each attendee received a booklet introducing the Vincentian Family Movement in Great Britain (VFGB), founded in 1999 as the Vincentian Millennium Partnership. Now a collaborative group of 15 charities and communities, it is devoted to supporting the most marginalised and vulnerable. 

At the start of mass members of these charities and communities each placed a candle at the foot of the altar to symbolise our common vision and prayers for one another.

The VFGB includes: the 

•    Company of Mission Priests
•    Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul Services
•    NOAH Enterprise Charity
•    Vincentian Volunteers
•    DEPAUL
•    1617 Association Internationale des Charités (AIC)
•    SVP in England and Wales
•    SVP in Scotland
•    Religious Sisters of Charity
•    Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Evron
•    The Passage
•    The Anglican Sisters of Charity of Our Lady, Mother of the Church
•    The Congregation of the Mission (Nigerian and Irish Provinces in Great Britain).

Despite their diversity, these groups share Vincent’s charism: recognising him as founder or inspiration, serving the poor, and embracing an incarnational spirituality that encounters God in those most in need. As the booklet noted:

“The challenge before us… is to choose whether Vincentian spirituality will be a piece of history, or a living, breathing mission alive in its members.”

Homily from Bishop David Evans

The Mass was celebrated by Bishop David Evans, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, who reflected on St Vincent’s life and Christ’s example: “He had no action except to do good.”

He reminded the congregation that Christ drew close to those most abandoned: “Those who were poor in spirit… had no hope and no support.” This, he said, is where Vincentians are called to be present.

Bishop David also underlined that service flows from humility and surrender: “The first requisite exalting the cross is to come for ourselves… We live this life… on material poverty, with generosity and chastity, and the willing surrender of one’s world and obedience to God.”

Finally, he praised the particular mission of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, saying: “Members of the SVP devote themselves to the service of the poor, without looking for gratitude… or compensation.”

Address from the SVP National President

After Mass, attendees gathered in the Grimshaw Room for lunch, where Tony McGuigan, Birmingham Central Council President for the SVP, introduced Elaine Heyworth.

Elaine offered a candid “mid-term report,” acknowledging financial challenges but celebrating members’ resilience. “The SVP is here to alleviate poverty – that is our job, our sole object,” she said. Looking forward, Elaine stressed that at this time stability, not expansion, must be the priority

She emphasised that SVP service is as much about friendship as practical help: “Befriending is what we are about - being friends to those people who need them.”  She reminded members that what may seem like small acts of kindness truly matter: “Every little piece of hope that you bring to another person inspires us to do more.”

Elaine concluded with words from St John Paul II’s encyclical Sollicitudo rei socialis:

“Solidarity is not a vague feeling of compassion… it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good… from me to we, from walls to bridges, from not bothered to caring, from throw away to cherished, from shame to dignity, and from them to us.”

Pilgrims of Hope

In this Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis—and now Pope Leo XIV—call the Church to live as “Pilgrims of Hope”. This celebration at St Chad’s Cathedral was a reminder that Vincentian spirituality is not only a legacy, but a living mission: to encounter Christ in the poor, to serve Him with humility, and to bring hope where it is most needed.