VMY Renews Its Statutes and International Leadership
From August 17 to 23, 2026, the Saint Vincent de Paul Spirituality Center in Santa Marta de Tormes, on the outskirts of Salamanca, Spain, welcomed 124 assembly members of the Vincentian Marian Youth from every continent. It was the VI General International Assembly of the Association, the VMY’s highest-level gathering, convened to define the course of the coming years. For seven days, the participants lived an intense rhythm of prayer, sharing of experiences, group work and fellowship, with debates in four languages joined by simultaneous translation — and decisions that will mark an entire generation of Vincentian youth.
A 1999 Statutes for a 2026 Association
The heart of the Assembly was the revision of the International Statutes, which had stood since 1999 — and not by chance. Over those 27 years, the VMY changed profoundly: it grew in number of countries, diversified its local realities and matured its role within the Vincentian Family. A text from nearly three decades ago could no longer keep up with an Association that today spans multiple continents. The update, therefore, was not a wish but a necessity. The process was long: proposals gathered from the countries, reading, reflection, and prayer by the International Council, until reaching the text debated in Salamanca.
In the first days of work, the assembly members analyzed the proposed changes, put forward amendments within their groups, listened to the Revision Commission’s explanations, and voted on each change. In the end, the new statute was approved by a broad majority. Opening the sessions, the then International President, Patricia Isabel Roppa Godoy, made an invitation that echoed throughout the week:
“The document we present did not come out of nowhere. It gathers the Association’s sentiment worldwide. That is why I ask that, every time we propose something, it not be from our own reality, but that we open our hearts to welcome other realities.”
And she recalled what gives meaning to all the normative effort:
“Our one and true mission as Children of Mary is to continue bringing Jesus Christ to other young people, so that they may know they are children of God and live with joy, with love, and called to serve.”
The renewal, it should be said, does not end in Salamanca. With the International Statutes approved, each country must now review its own national statutes to align them with the new text. This will be extensive work, led by the new International Council, elected precisely at this Assembly, in direct dialogue with the national councils. It will be up to this Council to accompany the countries in the coming months and years, translating the international framework into each local reality.
A New Leadership to Lead the Renewal
On Friday the 21st, after the presentation and interviews with the candidates, the Assembly elected the new VMY International Council: T. Daniel Kuenzel (United States) as International President, elected in the very first ballot, Paulina Maria Berdel (Poland) as Councilor for Europe, Raymonda Philippe (Egypt) as Councilor for Africa, Harving Vélez (Colombia) as Councilor for the Americas, and Joseph Cong Thang Nguyen (Vietnam) as Councilor for Asia and Oceania. A renewed leadership, taking charge of the Association at the exact moment when it will need guidance most: the implementation of the new statutes in dozens of countries.
The Secretariat and the Challenge of Sustaining Itself
The Assembly also looked inward, at the house that sustains the Association. Fr. Francisco Nicolas Pelito Magnaye, Jr., Director of the International Secretariat, presented the situation of VMY International and the Secretariat, recounting the story of the patrimony built since the 1990s — when the Association, still taking shape, had to seek funding to exist. His summary stayed in everyone’s memory:
“No Money, No Mission. Saint Vincent de Paul would agree with that phrase.”
The answer came on the last day: the Assembly approved the commitment to an annual contribution from each member to the VMY International, with amounts and forms to be defined by each country, according to its reality.
The Document That Will Guide the Coming Years
On Saturday, the groups presented their proposals for the Final Document, and the Assembly discussed each one. On Sunday the 23rd, the Final Document was approved unanimously. That same morning, the assembly members also approved the proposal for continental articulation, to be led by the International Council — an unprecedented step to bring the international structure closer to the realities of each region.
This document, which defines the VMY’s lines of action for the next five years, will be officially sent to the countries in the coming months by the new International Council. And from it, each group, in every corner of the world, will begin to build what was dreamed in Salamanca.
Gratitude to the Countries
If the Assembly was possible, it was because every country answered the call: they sent their representatives, made the effort, showed up. To them — to the young people who crossed oceans and borders, to the national councils that prepared them, to the Vincentian families who welcomed them — the International VMY extends its gratitude. Because an assembly like this is not made of documents; it is made of people. And it is on people, after all, that the Association’s values depend most: that it may remain alive, young and on the move, sustained by all those who believe that following Jesus Christ with Mary at our side is worth every effort.
