Antoine Frédéric Ozanam: Building the Good Society

Francisco Javier Fernández ChentoFrédéric OzanamLeave a Comment

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Author: David L. Gregory · Year of first publication: 2006 · Source: Symposium Issue of the St. Thomas Law Journal, Vol. 3, 2006; St. John's Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-0029.

As a 20 year-old law student in Paris, Frederic Ozanam (1813-1853) and a few fellow law students founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society, which quickly grew throughout Europe and today is one of the largest charities in the world (with more than a million members on all continents). Later, as a lawyer and professor of commercial law and of literature at the University of Paris, Ozanam was the first to conceptualize and elucidate the natural wage, drawing from Catholic Social Teaching, principally via St. Thomas Aquinas, regarding the common good. His work became an important platform for the first labor encyclical on the rights of workers, issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. Ozanam was an exemplary Catholic scholar and eloquent public intellectual. He fearlessly championed workers' rights, and his concept of the natural wage took root in the great labor encyclicals and in secular wage legislation that continue to resonate today in living wage initiatives. He was, however, that rarest of intellectuals, serving, directly and personally, and throughout his entire adult life, the immediate needs of the poor. He remains an important role model for those striving to build the good society, coupling academic and intellectual insight with direct, personal action.


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Introduction Antoine Frédéric Ozanam embodies the best of the Catholic intellectual tradition. He earned doctorates in law and literature by the age of twenty-six. He translated intellectual insights into practice as he endeavored to help … Read More

Blessed Frederic Ozanam

Francisco Javier Fernández ChentoFrédéric OzanamLeave a Comment

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Author: Frank Scarano · Year of first publication: 2012 · Source: Blog "100 Holy Heroes of the Faith".
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Wow! What an inspirational experience this has been. I am in awe of the determination, great intellect and amazing faith of Blessed Frederic Ozanam. He has shown us how an ‘ordinary’ person can accomplish extraordinary … Read More

Frederic Ozanam: in His Own Words

Francisco Javier Fernández ChentoFrédéric OzanamLeave a Comment

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Author: Claire Sweeney DC · Year of first publication: 2013 · Source: Justice Matters Ireland.
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Frederic Ozanam was a person who spoke with passion about the things of God even when it was unpopular. He did this all through his life – as a student in Paris, as leader of … Read More

Ozanam: Pioneer in Social Justice

Francisco Javier Fernández ChentoFrédéric OzanamLeave a Comment

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Author: Bruce Duncan CSsR · Year of first publication: 2008 · Source: St Vincent de Paul Record, (Autumn 2008), 15-16..

Bruce Duncan is a Redemptorist priest who co-ordinates the program in social justice studies at Yarra Theological Union in Melbourne.


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Frederick Ozanam was an outstanding pioneer in the renewed stress on social justice in the Church. Many church statements today reflect his views insisting that work for social justice is an essential aspect of evangelisation. … Read More

Early Days of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: Difficult Decisions

Francisco Javier Fernández ChentoFrédéric Ozanam, Society of Saint Vincent de PaulLeave a Comment

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Author: Claire Sweeney DC · Year of first publication: 2012 · Source: Justice Matters Ireland.
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The Society started by Ozanam and his friends on 23 April 1833 in the offices of La Tribune Catholique was set to grow and develop very quickly. Ozanam had a vision of expansion, but four … Read More