L'Arche founder Jean Vanier
dies at 90
 |
| Pope John Paul II with Jean Vanier |
Jean Vanier has died at the age of 90. He spent his whole
life giving hope to suffering people: "The message of the Gospel, he said,
is to become men and women of compassion. If you become a man or a woman of
compassion, you will be like Jesus".
By Sergio Centofanti
Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche (1964), a community which
supports people with disabilities, died during the night, aged 90. The
community is active all over the world with about 150 centres. Vanier had been
suffering from cancer and was assisted at a L’Arche facility in Paris.
Pope Francis was informed of his death and the ad interim
director of the Vatican Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, said the Pope
"prays for him and for the whole L'Arche community". Jean Vanier had
met with Pope Francis on March 21, 2014, calling him a man of smiles and
encounter.
Born in Geneva on September 10, 1928, Vanier, a former
officer in the Canadian Navy, also co-founded the movement "Foi et
Lumiere" (Faith and Light) in 1971. He was a member of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity and in 2015 received the Templeton Prize, one of the
highest awards given every year to personalities from the religious world.
The words of Jean Vanier: the disabled, great witnesses of
God
"Our mission - said Jean Vanier in an interview with
Vatican Radio (see video below) - is to encounter a world of extreme weakness,
poverty and suffering, people who have often been rejected... L’Arche is a
place of reconciliation where people of very different religions and cultures
can meet and this transforms the lives of people with disabilities, but also
transforms the volunteers. L’Arche, after all, is a place of celebration where
the aim is for everyone to be happy (...) We want to be a sign of the
importance of people with disabilities, because they have a message to give, but
few know it: they, in fact, were chosen to be the great witnesses of God.”
People with disabilities lead us to God
On the occasion of being awarded the Templeton Prize, again
in an interview with Vatican Radio, Jean Vanier said: "This prize draws
attention to people with disabilities, and this is important. In fact, the
particular aspect of L’Arche, as well as Faith and Light, is the revelation
that people with mental disabilities are super people!”
Whoever has compassion for the other is similar to Jesus
Jean Vanier recalled the importance of living together:
"I believe strongly that today it is necessary to create communities that
live the values of the Gospel: to live together, to live the Beatitudes and to
discover that the life of the Beatitudes, the life of the Gospel can be lived
very simply by living together. The message of the Gospel is to become men and
women of compassion. If you become a man or a woman of compassion, you will be
like Jesus.”
The Gospel of Joy
In another interview Jean Vanier emphasized the importance
of joy: "I think the whole vision of evangelization is joyful, because we
have received the Good News! The world is not only a world of violence, but the
Word made flesh, God came to tell us something. God loves humanity, God is
present. This does not mean that there is no struggle against evil. There is
violence in the world; there is violence in me and in all of us. But Jesus is
stronger and we keep the hope that He will help us.”
Jean Vanier speaks to Vatican Radio
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét