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| Ralph Middlecamp joined more than 10,000 members of the “Vicentian Family” for a recent gathering in Rome. He is the new national president of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul. (Contributed photo) |
MADISON — This story has a dateline of Madison, but Ralph Middlecamp will be traveling throughout the United States and the world in his new position as national president of the U.S. Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP).
Middlecamp has worked with the local SVdP for almost 30 years and will remain based in Madison during his six-year term as the society’s national president.
Gathering in Rome
In October, he joined more than 10,000 members of the “Vincentian family” for a gathering in Rome to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and the men’s Congregation of the Mission.
The gathering included an audience with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Francis venerated a reliquary containing the heart of St. Vincent de Paul.
Middlecamp said the incorrupt heart is usually kept in Paris in a reliquary at the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity.
He noted that over 200 Vincentian organizations were present in Rome. There are SVdP societies in 150 countries.
The worldwide Church
“My new position allows me to see the worldwide Church at work,” he said.
Besides Rome, he has also visited Paris and will be going soon to Quito, Ecuador, for a meeting of SVdP leaders from the Western Hemisphere.