Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin urged all parishes to support the St. Vincent de Paul Society in its work to help the poor in North Georgia.

“Both the archbishop and I will do everything to persuade every parish which does not now have a conference to establish one as soon as possible,’ the bishop told the society last week.

He told the society, “I strongly recommend that on your side, you have a conference or study session in which your responsibilities and commitments can be studied in depth and then brought into clear focus.”

Bishop Bernardin asked if the St. Vincent de Paul Society was really accomplishing its purpose in Atlanta in 1967.

“In all honesty, I must say that despite its accomplishments, the society is not realizing its full potential. There are a number of reasons for this.

“One reason seems to be the attitude which often prevails in many parishes generally, and in the parochial units of the society in particular. There is in many parishes an introspective air that makes us conscious only of our own poor.

“And where we have none, we satisfy ourselves by saying there is no need here for St. Vincent de Paul. There is always need.”

The bishop said the Particular Council points to areas of needs that reach beyond the limits of any one parish, but the parish conferences hesitate in their response to that call.

“Even more serious is the fact that some parishes don’t have a conference at all,” the bishop said. “In most cases they are affluent parishes and I have heard that the reason given is that there are no poor people in these parishes.

“This is not so. There are poor in every parish. But even if there were no poor in the parish, there should be a parish conference to help the poor in other parishes, in the city, in the diocese.”

Bishop Bernardin said this complacent attitude caused a certain amount of unrest last year when the Particular Council made the decision to give a new dimension to its role by establishing a central office with a full-time layman serving as coordinator of the society’s overall work.

“At the time there were misgivings on the part of some of the members of the more active conferences on the need of such an office. As a result, the work of the Particular Council has not been as effective as it could have been because it has not had united support.” He said support for the work of the Particular Council in the inner city is growing.

“Another reason why the society is not accomplishing its purpose fully is that the official Church has not always played as important a role in its work as it should have,” Bishop Bernardin said.

“This was due, perhaps, to the feeling that the laymen of the society would react unfavorably to what might be considered interference. In any case, we have not challenged the society sufficiently to fulfill its role as the responsive vehicle which can carry Christ’s message of love into every area of this diocese.”

Discussing financial support of the Particular Council, the bishop said, “I strongly urge every parish to give to the Particular Council each year the entire proceeds from a collection…since the poor are the responsibility of all parishes, and since there are many needs which cross parish lines.”

The bishop said it would be a tragedy if the Church in the United States forgot the poor. “A tragic example is Latin America. The Church was identified in the early years with the colonizers, the wealthy, the ruling class.

“When the masses of people revolted…the Church, because of her identification with the colonial powers, was discredited and almost lost in the shuffle. It is only in recent years that the Church in Latin America has become the church of all the people, and I am afraid that it is almost too late.”