Abstract
Vincent de Paul was an important reformer of the French Church, which faced several problems with its clergy. Liturgical practices were not standardized, and some priests lived corrupt lives. Because they received stipends for masses, they often celebrated them for that reason rather than out of piety. They tried to acquire several benefices (church offices) and dioceses at the same time to profit from them all, although this was against canon law, and these were sometimes essentially sold or hoarded by noble families. Church titles and their accompanying incomes were also auctioned off by monasteries, and these, too, were purchased by nobles. Worse, priests were “drunken and lewd,” without vocation. To combat all this, Vincent founded the Congregation to be models of priestly life, and he held the Tuesday Conferences, weekly periods of learning and reflection for clergy. He also held retreats for them, and the Congregation founded and directed seminaries to better train priests. Finally, he served on the kingdom’s Council of Conscience, helping to ensure legitimate appointments of bishops and abbots and working to combat Jansenism, which “exalt[ed] the omnipotence of God at the expense of human freedom.”