Vincentian Studies Institute
Roman Catholic organization to promote the Vincentian Family
The Vincentian Studies Institute of the United States (VSI) is an American Catholic research outfit at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. It promotes research on the Vincentian Family.
The Institute, founded in 1979, is sponsored by the ten provinces of the Congregation of the Mission (the Lazarists or Vincentians) and the Company of the Daughters of Charity in the United States. The Institute's mission is to promote a living interest in the historical, spiritual and charitable heritage of the Vincentian family in following Jesus Christ, the Evangelizer of the Poor and the source and model of all charity, under the patronage of Saint Vincent de Paul, (1581–1660) and Saint Louise de Marillac, (1591–1660). The Institute is now sponsored by DePaul University and is part of the university’s Office of Mission and Values.
The Institute publishes a bi-annual academic journal entitled Vincentian Heritage, a scholarly monograph series, and a wide variety of translations and original works in the Vincentian tradition.
The organization periodically offers continuing education opportunities and symposia, and also collaborates with a variety of other programs intended to promote a greater understanding of the Vincentian history and tradition.
Origins
The origin of the Vincentian Studies Institute can be found in the Second Vatican Council's mandate that religious communities renew themselves in light of the "signs of the times." The council suggested that this renewal take place within the context of a careful self-reflection on the charism by each community.
A more remote origin of the Institute can be found in the work done by a variety of French Vincentian historians beginning in the mid-nineteenth century after the Congregation of the Mission's post-revolutionary restoration. The fourteenth superior general, Jean-Baptiste Étienne (1801–1874), had a lively concern for the preservation of the "primitive spirit" of the Vincentians and Daughters of Charity.
“Vincentian Studies Institute” enters the record as roman Catholic organization to promote the Vincentian Family. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Vincentian, Studies and Institute can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7932152. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979, 1581, 1660 and 1591.
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This entry incorporates text from “Vincentian Studies Institute” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.