Another was Louise Swanton Belloc, a French writer and translator known for introducing important works of English literature to France and for promoting women's education.

She also spent two years at a Catholic boarding school in England that had been one of those founded by the nun, Mary Ward (1585 – 1645), to provide an education to poor children.

She was a founder-member of the Pragma Cooperative, a Catholic organization opposed to the Estado Novo, and in April 1967, was arrested by the PIDE (International and State Defence Police) and held for three days in Caxias prison near Lisbon.

After the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, which saw the overthrow of the Estado Novo, she became a civil servant, working in the offices of Maria de Lourdes Pintassilgo, Portugal's only female prime minister and a woman who, like Vicente, had a strong Catholic faith.

On a personal level, Vicente was involved with the international movement We are Church, which she was responsible for introducing to Portugal in 1997, together with Maria João Sande Lemos.

She carried out consultancy assignments on reproductive health in Portuguese-speaking African countries, together with Purificação Araújo, on behalf of the United Nations Population Fund.