Vanier meaning
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When Jean Vanier passed away in May 2019, the Canadian Catholic founder of the L'Arche International movement that challenged barriers between people with disabilities and able-bodied people was hailed as a “saviour to people on the margins.”
But since news of his abuse of six women broke in Feburary 2020, many who once thought him a hero have struggled to make sense of the man and his legacy.
I include myself in this group.
As a former caregiver of people with disablities, I came to see Vanier’s theology of disability as one that had the capacity to transform not only hearts and minds, but also communities and structures. But since learning of the abuse, I have come to see it otherwise.
Coercive underside
A report released by L'Arche International in February this year detailed that a comprehensive and impartial (non-judicial) inquiry found there was “sufficient evidence … that Jean Vanier engaged in manipulative sexual relationships with at least six adult (not disabled) women.”
Vanier had a PhD in philosophy and he wrote extensively about disability as informed by the
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Vanier, Jean 1928-
PERSONAL:
Born September 10, 1928, in Geneva, Switzerland; son of George Vanier (a diplomat and politician). Education: Attended Dartmouth Royal Naval College; Institute Catholique de Paris, Ph.D. (philosophy), 1962. Religion: Roman Catholic.
ADDRESSES:
Home—Trosly-Breuil, France. Office—L'Arche International, 10 Rue Fenoux, 75015 Paris, France.
CAREER:
Educator and advocate of the disadvantaged. St. Michael's University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, instructor in philosophy, c. 1963; L'Arch (network of faith-based communities), Trosly-Breuil, France, founder, 1964-80; Faith and Light, founder. Military service: British Royal Navy, 1941-49; Canadian Navy, 1948-50; officer on battleship Vanguard during World War II; officer on aircraft carrierMagnificent until 1950.
AWARDS, HONORS:
Named companion, Order of Canada, 1989; Paul VI International Prize for lay ministry work, 1997; Gordon Montador Award, 1998, for Becoming Human.
WRITINGS:
In Weakness, Strength; The Spiritual Sources of Georges P. Vanier, Nineteenth Governor-General Jean Vanier, Ph.D. is a philosopher, writer, religious and moral leader and the founder of two major international community-based organizations, L’Arche, and Faith & Light, that exist for people with intellectual disabilities. The 145 L’Arche communities in 40 countries and 1,500 Faith & Light communities in 80 countries are living laboratories of human transformation. In and outside of these organizations, he has spent more than four decades as a deeply radical advocate for the poor and the weak in our society. While the progressive disability movement speaks mainly about tolerance, rights and normalization, Jean Vanier has shaped a distinct way of thinking that builds on those minimum standards of a civil society while inspiring us to transcend them. He invites us to recognize the profound gifts and lessons that people who have been rejected by society can offer when they are properly supported and included. Jean Vanier’s leadership, writing and practical works cross religious and cultural boundaries. He is a theologian and philosopher who is fully
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Jean Vanier
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