By Dubravka Kolumbic-Cortese and Lois Rogers | Correspondents            

Renato Lima de Oliveira, international president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, kicked off a whirlwind tour of SVDP conferences in the Northeast corridor with a daylong visit Jan. 4 to the Diocese of Trenton.

Starting with St. Mary Parish, Bordentown, in Burlington County and accompanied by a host of Vincentians, including Joseph T. Williams, diocesan president, Lima de Oliveira also visited conference members in Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties in addition to visiting SVDP parish conference outreach establishments such as food banks and furniture ministries.

Photo Gallery: SVDP Global President Visits Diocese

Williams said the Diocese of Trenton being included on Lima de Oliveira’s tour – which also included New York and Baltimore – was “a real tribute to our Diocese and the things we accomplish here.

“I guess we are recognized as doing a lot of good work and practicing the Vincentian charism. So many do amazing things with nickels and dimes, and they have special places in my heart,” Williams said.

Conference members from throughout Burlington County gathered in the late morning in St. Mary Church to welcome Lima de Oliveira, who was sworn in as president general in September after 30 years of service to the St. Vincent de Paul Society in his native Brazil.

He addressed the conference members in attendance, urging them to continue to “work hard for the poor,” to pray for him in his new role and to pray for the canonization of SVDP founder Blessed Frederic Ozanam, who started the organization in the 1800s in order to help the less fortunate.

“In Brazil, the poor have nothing,” Lima de Oliveira said. “Here is a different kind of poor. But worldwide, the charity is the same.”

In an interview with The Monitor following his speech, he talked about his enjoyment of visiting St. Vincent de Paul conferences.

“Every trip I do, I like to visit the members, I like to visit the special works and I like to visit the poor families, to go to their homes. This is the Vincentian way to serve,” Lima de Oliveira said. “The people really need support, not only financially, but psychologically.

“Today in the world, people are very selfish and individual,” he added. “So we need this approach to others to make the world better.”

Spending up to an hour at each stop, Lima de Oliveira fielded questions from attendees and took time to shake hands.

“It’s a great honor, an unexpected honor,” Sharon Callahan, St. Mary Parish conference president, said of Lima de Oliveira’s visit. “I hope he will appreciate the depth of the spiritual life in this parish.”

Nancy Sanson, the SVDP conference spiritual advisor in St. Mary of the Lakes Parish, Medford, joined fellow members in welcoming Lima de Oliveira to the Trenton Diocese.

“We feel privileged and humbled that he is able to visit us,” she said. “I hope that he sees we are spiritually based and that we interact with one another in a loving and giving way.”

There are 51 St. Vincent de Paul conferences in the Diocese of Trenton. According to 2015 statistics – the most recent year for which they are available – the Diocese’s conferences conducted 12,884 home visits, assisted 66,709 individuals and distributed $6,720,822 in aid to the needy.

Callahan said her conference alone provided financial aid to 36 families last year who were struggling to make ends meet.

“We support the working poor,” Callahan said, explaining that sometimes it can be an unexpected bill or the end of unemployment benefits that spurs a family to seek help from SVDP conferences.

“There are so many people with so much need,” Callahan said. “Sometimes we run out of money, but God provides.”

On the Move

Evidence of what God provides with the help of human hands was the focus of Lima de Oliveira’s travels during the busy afternoon that followed. After a stop in Yardville to visit with Mercer County conferences, Lima de Oliveira continued to the food pantry in St. Peter Claver Center on Springwood Avenue, Asbury Park, where Vincentians and a host of other volunteers eagerly awaited his arrival.

Elizabeth Upperman, president of the St. Peter Claver conference, described Lima de Oliveira’s visit as a boost to all those who devote themselves to the greater Asbury Park area.

“We are located in a very deprived area,” Upperman said. “And yet there is a tremendous spirit of giving here. Having that recognized with a visit from the president general is a big honor,” and a recognition, she said of the work the volunteers do in the spirit of Jesus.

She noted that the center’s room was set not only for Lima de Oliveira’s visit but as the launching pad for hundreds, if not thousands of pounds of foodstuff including 200 bags of potatoes that would be packaged with other fresh produce, canned goods and pantry staples for the regular weekly distribution the next day.

The St. Peter Claver Center, which last month alone distributed food to 605 families, fulfills a diocesan pledge to secure the presence of the parish community after its church, badly in need of repair, was demolished. It operates with strong support from Mother of Mercy Parish – which merged the Asbury Park and Neptune parishes of St. Peter Claver, Holy Spirit, Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Providence – as well as the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.

Upperman joined in applause as Lima de Oliveira arrived after noon at the center, greeting volunteers with handshakes and hugs.

Lima de Oliveira said one of the purposes of the visit was to pay respect to the dedication undertaken in the name of St. Vincent de Paul in the greater Asbury area.

“My brother and sister Vincentians, seeing all the work you do here [with] your army of volunteers is amazing,” he said, stressing the scope of the society, which is located in 151 countries around the world. “You belong to an international organization, not only a parish.”

Lima de Oliveira concluded his remarks to the site saying, “This is a happiness trip.”

Indeed, no one seemed happier than Brenda Terrell, St. Peter Claver conference vice president, who said the center meets the needs in the “heart of this most underserved area.”

The food pantry has become a solid centerpiece that people can rely on, she said, adding that “for Thanksgiving, we were able to give out 1,444 Thanksgiving baskets over three days. These are all blessings.”

Where the Heart Is

Lima de Oliveira then continued on to Selective Seconds – the successful boutique-style furniture store operated by the St. Rose Parish conference in Belmar, which was created in 2010 by Vincentian Margaret More.

For about a half-hour, Lima de Oliveira and the Vincentians who accompanied him toured the store. There, the inventory has largely been donated by those aware of the Vincentian philosophy that mandates the furnishings go either to needy families through the St. Rose Parish SVDP conference or to the store, where the monies raised from sales directly benefit the area’s working poor.

The growing amount of donations led Lima de Oliveira and the Vincentians to their next stop – Vincent’s Legacy, the 7,000-square-foot warehouse situated in the heart of the former military installation of Camp Evans, Wall.

After tireless work by More, who had the idea of expanding the furniture outreach ministry diocese-wide, and the support of Williams, Vincent’s Legacy was approved Nov. 28 by the Trenton Council Board after nearly a year of discussions. The warehouse at Camp Evans has now become a staging point to serve Monmouth and Ocean Counties with plans to support Mercer and Burlington Counties in the future as well, Williams said.

The excitement generated both by Lima de Oliveira’s visit and Vincent’s Legacy was palpable as the bus carrying the president general and accompanying Vincentians pulled into the warehouse parking lot. As Lima de Oliveira stepped foot on a section of the Shore that’s become nicknamed the Irish Riviera, a kilt-clad piper stepped forward to play a Celtic welcome. Applause rippled through the air.

“We’re so fortunate in having him visit,” More said.

Williams called it a “great turnout of support of Vincentians” as the new ministry begins.

Lima de Oliveira greeted those assembled in the vast space that is just beginning to fill with furniture and household goods and discussed how he became a Vincentian in 1985 at age 15. While touring the facility, he in turn, spoke with Patrick Young, a freshman at The College of New Jersey, Ewing, who began volunteering for the furniture ministry when he was a 15-year-old student at St. Rose High School.

That one-on-one experience was an example of what More said she was hoping the day would hold.

“I’m sure he will take this back to Brazil and share it,” More said. “It’s the small conversations you hoped he would have. It was great to have a young person spend time talking with him, and Renato reached out to encourage him to think about starting a St. Vincent de Paul Conference at [college].”

Later in the afternoon, the tour drew to a close in Freehold, where collaboration between the St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Rose of Lima Parish and Catholic Charities immigration services has resulted in safe harbor for scores of families and individuals around the shore.

More said she hopes Lima de Oliveira will remember his time spent in New Jersey and spreading the word about the work being done in the Diocese. “In his daily conversations, hopefully he’ll remember the day and share what we are doing.”

Richard Zanoni, member and past president of the conference in Jesus, the Good Shepherd Parish, Riverside, Burlington County, said he was impressed that Lima de Oliveira visited the Diocese.

“I think we can show that we are a vibrant county in terms of the number of SVDP conferences we have and that we can reach a large number of people,” Zanoni said.