Lisbon was the beautiful setting for the 2026 General Assembly of the International Society of St Vincent de Paul (SSVP) from 15-19 June. I attended in my role as International Territorial Vice President for Oceania, along with the presidents or their delegates from eight of the 11 Oceania countries – Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand and Australia. Nearly 100 countries from the global Vincentian “network of charity” participated, although sadly a further 30 countries were unable to participate due to inability to obtain visas.

General Assemblies have previously been held once every six years, but this was the first one to be held on the new three-yearly cycle. Consequently, it didn’t coincide with the election of a new President General and this provided more time for the consideration of other matters.

We had planned a meeting of our Oceania partners immediately prior to the General Assembly. After attending 9am Sunday Mass at the nearby St John of God Church we got down to business back at the hotel. To complement the meeting held earlier in the year in Auckland, the agenda for this meeting mainly comprised presentations about the state of the Society in Oceania countries, including strengths and challenges. Four members of the international board attended the meeting as observers, as well as my Vice President Julio de Lima. I think the presentations would have stimulated their interest in replicating the Oceania Partnerships model in other parts of the world. Our meeting concluded with a presentation by Australian President Mark Gaetani on the Oceania Strategic Plan and a discussion on metrics.

The following day I attended a meeting of my colleagues from the 12 other territories, while most of the Oceania representatives went on a moving pilgrimage to nearby Fatima.

The General Assembly proper began next day and featured an excellent keynote presentation by USA president John Berry, titled ‘Rooted in Love, Delivering Hope’. It focused on the Vincentian calling and mission as it applies to Conferences today. Simultaneous interpretation into the five official SSVP languages of French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English ensured everyone could follow the proceedings.

The major part of the day focused on the proposed changes to Part II of The Rule, with discussion led by Ralph Middlecamp, the Chair of the Statutes Committee. Following lively discussion on some aspects, all the proposed changes were passed by the required two-thirds majority.

Progress on the cause for the canonisation of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam was discussed. There has been a significant setback given that the Vatican panel of experts has rejected the second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Frédéric. The assessment of canonisation causes is getting tougher, particularly as medical science advances and it becomes harder to categorise miraculous events as inexplicable.

There were many interesting presentations on day 2 covering diverse topics such as the history of the relationship between the Church and the Society, youth, communications and Famvin. Sr Luz Ramirez, Vice President for Formation and Training, presented on the SSVP strategy which includes a focus on training for

leaders and use of information and communication technologies for formation and training purposes.

Day 3 began with an excellent presentation from Australian Claire Victory on the SSVP Safeguarding framework. This was followed by another presentation by Ralph Middlecamp foreshadowing possible changes to the Statutes that his committee might look at prior to the next General Assembly. In the afternoon our hosts provided a fascinating tour of Lisbon. It was a great relief to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. The day concluded with a gala dinner at the hotel complete with traditional Fado music accompaniment.

The following morning Claire presented on Environmental Care and Protection and Mark presented on the SSVP global Strategic Plan. The Oceania Group displayed their renowned singing talents by bringing the meeting to a close with a beautiful rendition of the Fijian farewell song, Isa Lei.

That evening the Oceania group met over dinner to share reflections, agreeing unanimously that the General Assembly had been a very worthwhile experience. It was held in a friendly, cooperative spirit, there were many excellent presentations and plenty of opportunities for side meetings with our Vincentian colleagues.

I would like to thank all the Oceania participants who contributed so well to the event. A special thank-you to the Australian National Council Secretariate for the excellent logistics and organising of our participation.