St Vincent’s spirituality was especially marked by his deep desire to revive faith among Catholics and to re-enkindle charity among all persons as he worked with rich and poor alike. As a child he gave his own food and clothing away to those who he saw were in need. Throughout his life his constant concern was to relieve the sufferings of those around him. He died shortly after giving his coat to someone else who was cold.

He taught that every human being is a mirror of God, is made in the image and likeness of God, and as such is worthy of reverence and love. He also taught that the role of each Christian is to be a sacrament of Christ’s presence in the world. He was a warm friend and a compassionate spiritual director. He died on the 22^nd of January 1850, at the centre of his new community, the Church of Santissimo Salvatore in Onda in Rome; which is now the spiritual centre of the Union of Catholic Apostolate.

Vincent Pallotti was beatified by Pope Pius XII on the 22^nd January 1950, exactly 100 years after his entry into eternal life and he was canonized on the 20^th January 1963 by Pope John XXIII, this was shortly after the opening of the Second Vatican Council, and Pope John referred to him as a “loving saint who displayed such remarkable love and (he) is one of the outstanding figures in the field of apostolic activity”.

Pope Pius XI referred to him as the precursor of Catholic Action because of his conviction that all persons are called to work in evangelization and in the building of the Church. Pope John XXIII died a few short months after canonizing St. Vincent (in June 1963) and Pope Paul VI paid tribute to St. Vincent by going to Frascati, where Fr. Vincent had celebrated his First Mass as a priest in May 1818, on September 1^st 1963. In his homily that day Pope Paul spoke of Vincent as a pioneer in his zeal for the Gospel, he spoke of his holiness and of the ‘genius’ of his spiritual and social vision whereby lay persons are called by the Lord to be active in the work of the apostolate.