Jean Vanier

Jean Vanier CC GOQ (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ vanje], September 10, 1928 – May 7, 2019) was a Canadian Catholic philosopher and theologian. In 1964, he founded L'Arche, an international federation of communities spread over 37 countries for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them. In 1971, he co-founded Faith and Light with Marie-Hélène Mathieu, which also works for people with developmental disabilities, their families, and friends in over 80 countries. He continued to live as a member of the original L'Arche community in Trosly-Breuil, France, until his death.

Over the years he wrote 30 books on religion, disability, normality, success, and tolerance. Among the honours he received were the Companion of the Order of Canada (1986), Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (1992), French Legion of Honour (2003), Community of Christ International Peace Award (2003, later revoked), the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award (2013), and the Templeton Prize (2015).

In February 2020, an internal report published by L'Arche concluded that Vanier sexually abused six women in Trosly-Breuil, France, between 1970 and 2005. The investigation was conducted by the UK-based GCPS Consulting Group.

Vanier was the son of Canadian parents, Major-General Georges Vanier, who became the 19th Governor General of Canada (1959–1967), and his mother Pauline Vanier (née Archer). He was born in Geneva, and was the fourth of five siblings (including sister and brother Bernard Vanier), in his youth Vanier received a broad education in English and French, first in Canada and then in France and England. During World War II, Vanier and his family fled Paris just before the Nazi occupation. He spent much of the war at an English naval academy. From age 13, he trained for a career as a naval officer at the Dartmouth Naval College (later renamed Britannia Royal Naval College).

In early 1945, Vanier was visiting Paris, where his father was Canadian ambassador; he and his mother went to assist survivors of Nazi concentration camps. Seeing the emaciated victims was a profoundly moving encounter for him, which he never forgot. He served in World War II with the Royal Navy and then with the Royal Canadian Navy. In 1947, as a midshipman, Vanier accompanied the Royal Family on their tour of South Africa aboard HMS Vanguard.

In 1949, he joined the Royal Canadian Navy, at the carrier HMCS Magnificent. In 1950, he resigned his naval commission. Vanier travelled to Paris to study as an undergraduate. He eventually went on to complete a PhD in philosophy from the Institut Catholique de Paris, with a doctoral thesis on Aristotle which was published in 1966 as Happiness as Principle and End of Aristotelian Ethics; this was his first published work. He went on to write over 30 books during his career and taught philosophy at the University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. He left academia in 1964, seeking a more spiritual ministry. His research lives on at the Jean Vanier Research Centre located at King's University College in London, Ontario, Canada.

In 1964, through Vanier's friendship with a priest named Thomas Philippe, he became aware of the plight of thousands of people institutionalized with developmental disabilities. Vanier invited two men, Raphael Simi and Philippe Seux, to leave the institutions where they resided and live with him in Trosly-Breuil, France. Their time together led to the establishment of L'Arche at Trosly-Breuil, a community where people with disabilities live with those who care for them. Since that time a network of 150 L'Arche communities have been established in 38 countries. A governing philosophy of the communities is Vanier's belief that people with disabilities are teachers, rather than burdens bestowed upon families.

Until the late 1990s, Vanier carried the responsibility for L'Arche in Trosly-Breuil in France, and for the International Federation of L'Arche. He then stepped down to spend more time counselling, encouraging, and accompanying the people who come to live in L'Arche as assistants to those with disabilities. Vanier established 147 L'Arche communities in 37 countries around the world which have become places of pilgrimage for those involved.