Photo above: This is a photo taken  in  the  early  70’s  of  the  first bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix, Edward A. McCarthy, with several newly ordained men. Photo right: This is a photo of  St.  Mary’s  Basilica  taken  in  the  early  1920’s. Photo right: This is a photo of the vestments worn by Pope Paul VI when he came to officially establish the Dio-cese of Phoenix. Photo far right: This is a photo of the keystone to the Brophy Chapel built in 1928. This makes it the second old-est Catholic church in the Diocese! Photos courtesy of the Ro-man Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Archives.

Photo above: This is a photo of what is said to be some of the first priests of the Phoenix area. Photo Right: This is a photo of the early  stages  of  St.  Mary’s  Church.    Obviously there must have been some renovations! Photos courtesy of the Roman Catho-lic Diocese of Phoenix Archives.

The  Catholic  Charities  Community  Services  have  been  serving  Phoenix  from  over  75  years.  The    organization  be-­gan  in  the  year  1933  with  hopes  to  advocate  kids  and  others  suffering  through  the  great  depression.  It  now  severs  in  var-­ious  areas    in  the  Central  and  Northern  Arizona  areas.  

The  Catholic  Charities  Community  Services  pro-­vides  help  for  domestic  violence  victims.    There  domestic  Violence  pro-­grams  shelter  and  assist  these  women    and  there  children    so  that  they  are  able  to  escape  the  abuse  and  regain  an  independent  life  for  themselves.

The  Charity    helps  the  homeless  and  the  re-­duction  of  poverty  in  the  area.  They  provide  these  people  with  programs  to  help  them  get  back  on  there  feet  and  to  become  valued  members  of  society.  They  also  offer  home-­less  shelters  for    those  in  need  to  stay  in.  

Counseling  is  also  a  key  area  the  charity  works  in.  They  offer  counsel-­ing  of  all  types  form  Anger  management  to  unplanned  pregnancies.  These  programs  are  free-based  with  a  sliding  scale  on  the  person’s  ability  to  pay.    

By  Nicholas  Hamati

Photo  by  Google  Images

Photo  by  Google  Images

Photo  by  CCCS

The  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul    has  been  serving  Phoenix  since  1946.  There  mission  is  to  help  the  poor  and  provide  oth-­ers  with  a  chance  to  server  there  community.  The  Phoenix  Di-­ocesan    helps  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  in    provides  assistance  for  families  in  central  and  northern  Arizona.   An  Image  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul

Over  16,000  (6,000  in  Phoenix  alone)  people    volunteer  at  the  Soci-­ety  of  St.  Vincent    de  Paul.  They  move  of  10  million  pounds  of  food  through  their  food  banks  each  year  they  go  to  feeding  the  homeless  and  others  in  need.  

Apart  from  the  amazing  charitable  work  that  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  has  to  offer  in  re-­gards  to  feeding  the  hunger,  they  also  offer  form  of  medical  and  dental  care  for  the  community.  These  health  care  options  come  at  little  to  no  cost  for  the  people  in  need  of  these  services.    

By  Nicholas  Hamati

Photo  by  Google  Images

Photo  by  SSVDP

Image  by  Google  Images

In 1833, a young law student named Frederic Ozanam created the official organization Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Paris, France. During a de-bate at the Sorbonne, he had to show exactly what he and his fellow Catholic students were really doing for the poor in Paris. Within weeks of the debate, Ozanam and six friends formed the first official  “Conference  of  Charity.”  This  group’s  main interests were service to and visita-tion of the poor. They used their own money to pay for the expenses

of the society and they even used some contri-butions they had re-ceived. Ozanam then decided that the society would be run under the patronage of St. Vin-cent de Paul who, in 16th century France, had also served the poor.

General History of Society of St. Vincent de Paul

St. Vincent de Paul pamphlet commemorat-ing 50 years of service to the poor

Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Phoenix

Although the Society of St. Vincent de Paul started internationally, the Phoenix Diocesan Council has been help-ing Arizona families since 1946. The many programs it offers in-clude general assis-tance, service to the homeless, medical and dental care for the working poor, charity dining rooms, thrift stores, and transitional housing shelters. Nearly 100 years after Ozanam started his organization, young Catholic men from Phoenix, Arizona joined in this same type of charity. A New Yorker familiar with

the society named Tommy Johnstone gathered four men with assistance from the pastor  of  St.  Mary’s  church. On April 26th, 1946, these men met in at  St.  Mary’s  old  rec-­tory, which officially marked the beginning of the present-day Phoenix Diocesan Council for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Today, many years after the first meeting, the Phoenix chapter has 89 conferences of charity, at least 2500 active Vincentians (members), and over 6,000 volunteers.

The logo for the Phoenix chapter of Society of St. Vin-

cent de Paul

By Justin Jones

Photos courtesy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Archives

Frédéric Ozanam (founder of St. Vincent de Paul) in Paris, France - 1833

An  original  St.  Joseph’s  Hospital  in  Phoenix

The  new  St.  Joseph’s  Hospital  in  Phoenix

Phoenix  St.  Joseph’s  Hospi-­tal and Medical Center logo

Photos courtesy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Archives

The  original  St.  Joseph’s  Hospital  in  Phoenix

Background  of  St.  Joseph’s  Hospital and Medical Center

St.  Joseph’s  Hospital  and Medical Center is a not-for-profit hospital that provides a wide variety of health, so-cial, and support ser-vices, with special care for the poor and under-served of society. In 1895, the Sisters of Mercy formed the St. Joseph’s  first  hospital  in the Phoenix area. The hospital is part of one of the largest healthcare systems in the West with 40 hos-pitals in California, Arizona, and Nevada. It is currently operated by Dignity Health, one the biggest healthcare systems in the West since it has 40 hospi-

tals in the Western states of the United States.  St.  Joseph’s  Hospital and Medical Center has 607 beds for its patients. It is involved with the Bar-row Neurological Insti-tute, which is the world’s  biggest  neuro-­surgical center. St. Joseph’s  is  a  center  mainly for tertiary care, medical educa-tion, and research. The hospital is a center for many different types of care, especially for the poor and underserved of society.

Another  original  St.  Joseph’s  Hospital  building

St.  Mary’s  “Adobe  Church”  - 1903 (first meeting place of Society of St. Vincent de Paul)

St.  Mary’s  “Basement  Church”  - 1913

Photos courtesy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix Archives

The  cover  of  a  book  commemorating  St.  Mary’s  Basilica’s  100 years and counting. This is where the first meeting

was held for the Phoenix Diocesan Council for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Thank  you,  on  behalf  of  Ms.  Baldwin’s  CIA  Class  of  ’13,  to  the  Diocese  of  Phoenix  Archives  for  granting  us  the  opportunity  to view the archives first-had on our quest for knowledge and answers to the questions surrounding the Catholic Church!