A native of Rome, St. Vincent Pallotti was ordained for the city of Rome, the heart of the Church, in 1818. He lived in turbulent times when the lives and the faith of the people were sorely tested by hardships of war, the effects of the Enlightenment on ordinary people and the poverty of the clergy itself. His charitable work with orphans, tradesmen, country peasants, nobles, clergy and religious, the imprisoned and the condemned, the military and people of every walk of life earned for him the title of “Apostle of Rome.”

Vincent was an apostle but he was also a mystic. He came to know God as Infinite Love and Mercy in a very personal way. His contemplation on God’s love and mercy led him to a deep experience of God and the ways of God. Small wonder that his life was one of apostolic zeal and contemplative prayer.

He is the founder of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate and the religious communities that flowed from the that initial work including our community, the Congregation of the Sisters of the Catholic Apostolate. For his promotion of the role of the laity in the mission of the Church, he has been called the Forerunner of Catholic Action. He has been called the Patron of the Second Vatican Council because of his prophetic understanding of the Church as the People of God and the role of the laity in the apostolate.

He was canonized by Pope John XXIII on January 20, 1963 who later declared him the Principal Patron of the Pontifical Missionary Union of the Clergy.