The Vincentian family, including the Daughters of Charity, has served in Cuba since the mid-1800s.

Evangelization in Cuba Holds Unique Challenges

How would you like to work on a tropical island? You’re picturing gentle breezes, swaying palm trees, pristine beaches…paradise, right? Father Gilbert Walker, CM, laughs heartily at the image. “It’s actually like being in Mississippi in the summer – all year long!” he says of his post in Cuba, where he has served since 2003.

Fr. Walker is part of a very long line of Vincentians to serve in Cuba. He lives in Old Havana, established by the Spanish in 1519. It was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1982 for its distinguished Spanish colonial architecture.

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Vincent Gray Academy recently celebrated graduating its 300th student.
These students might otherwise be lost to a vicious cycle of poverty.

Vincent Gray Academy Offers Second Chances

All Dominick wanted was a second chance. A chance to earn a high school diploma, a chance to escape lifelong poverty, a chance to turn his life around. Luckily, he found his second chance at Vincent Gray Academy, an alternative high school in East St. Louis.

 Dominick had struggled in his public high school and eventually left. All it takes is a few lost years, and many students find themselves out of options: too old to attend traditional high school, but not prepared for post-secondary education or able to get skilled jobs.

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Kenya Mission is Alive and Well

By Father Ron Ramson, CM

St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Kamulu (below, left) is active and growing, as is the Woodworking Program, which trains Kenyans in skills they can use to support their families.

For 28 years the Vincentians have been making a difference in poverty-ridden Kenya. Many things have changed since we first arrived but it brings me great satisfaction to report that we are making a difference.

Our mission began in 1981 with three Vincentians training and forming clergy at the request of the local African bishop. Today, we have 12 Midwest Province Vincentians serving in Kenya and more in the formation program at DePaul Centre.

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Meet: Father Michael Mulhearn, CM

Father Michael Mulhearn, CM, is on a mission. If you join him, you won’t regret it. First, you’ll hear him preach. Then, he might regale you with a song. Maybe you’ll join him in visiting the sick or homebound. Perhaps you’ll take part in a discussion with the parish youth. However you encounter him, you will be affected by the joy he exudes as he conducts parish missions.

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