The Clergy was the dominant element in the Church. Lay people were passive. St. Vincent Pallotti knew that the saving mission of the Church belonged to all the faithful. But he hoped for the full emancipation of the laity.

Lay people need to be animated if the church were to have future. Only in the close cooperation of priests and lay people can the evangelization of the world succeed. A lay person has tasks which cannot be accomplished by priests and the structured hierarchy. Without the cooperation of the lay people, the apostolate of the shepherd cannot fully unfold.

In a century used to tight structures and strict external forms, these thoughts were disturbing. Thus, Pallotti’s dream was ambitious: he wanted to bring the whole world home to God. How? Through inspiring all Christians to carry out their universal apostolate. Vincent devised concrete strategies for helping people to be more duty-conscious. He also dreamt that people should group together to motivate and animate all in the cause of the apostolate. Province fulfils this dream of the founder through various social and apostolic animation centres.