Deeply moved by the poverty and suffering all around him in Paris in the 1600s, Vincent de Paul reached out to assist those in need through simple acts of kindness that would, in God's providence, develop into the charism of the largest religious congregation of women in the Catholic Church today. During that era in the Church, religious women were cloistered and did not play an active role in health care or charitable works, unlike men and their lay associates. Although Vincent de Paul was able to get well-to-do ladies of the parish to assist him, he soon realized that it was not enough for charity to be generous and personal; it had to be organized .