Social Justice Activist Spotlight—Jean Vanier

Here at the Darst Center we have named our rooms after significant people who have been models for doing work in social justice. We will be highlighting these individuals each month to learn about their lives and work. They are great examples of people who have taken action to address an issue of justice they saw prevalent in their communities and beyond. This month we will be highlighting Jean Vanier. Here is a brief synopsis of his life and work:

"Born in Geneva, Switzerland on September 10, 1928, Jean Vanier is one of five children and grew up in Canada. At the age of 13 Vanier entered into military school with the hope of following in his father’s footsteps, the nineteenth Governor-General of Canada. He resigned from the military at the age of 22 and joined a small student lay community, L’Eau Vive, directed by the French Dominican Thomas Philippe. The aim of L’Eau Vive was to offer opportunity for prayer and the study of metaphysics, which would strengthen and support a deeper commitment to the Christian faith. After directing the community for six years, he left and went to school to study philosophy.

Vanier’s friend and former community member, Thomas Philippe, had begun working with disabled men. With his inspiration and encouragement, Vanier soon bought a small, dilapidated house which he called L’Arche, the Ark—Noah’s Ark—a symbol of refuge, diversity and hope. After visiting a number of institutions, asylums and psychiatric hospitals, as well as Le Vai Fleuri, Vanier welcomed two mentally handicapped men, Raphael and Philippe, into his home on August 4, 1964. Thus was the Ark set to sail.

Since then, the L’Arche movement has grown to include over seventy family–like communities world-wide. The communities of L’Arche are founded upon the belief in the uniqueness and sacredness of each person, whether handicapped or not. Motivated by the affirmation of the priority of the beatitudes in Christian and human living, the gifts of each person are to be nurtured and called forth with predilection of the poorest, weakest, and most wounded in community and society. This way of life is in itself a spirituality of the heart."

Room in the Darst Center dedicated to Jean Vanier