Frederic Ozanam – A Witness for Today

In an essay on Frederic Ozanam, founder of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Bishop Murphy comments on the similarities between the focal points of a recent Synodal document summarizing the state of the church 20 years after Vatican II and Ozanam’s life. He focuses on evangelization and service to the poor as two of the cornerstones of Ozanam’s legacy. According to Bishop Murphy, “Over and over again, his life is a witness to Gospel values, where these values were not only taught and preached in the classrooms of universities, but became a lived reality in personal service to the poor.”