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SUMMER IN THE FOREST invites us to abandon the rat race and forge new friendships. Amid the ancient trees, Philippe, Patrick, Jean and the others welcome us into their lives. If there are rules to break, they will be broken and if there is a truth to be told, they will tell it. Michel reveals his war torn past, Andre is desperate for a date, and young David will prove himself a hero in the fight against the forces of evil.
Now in hindsight those lines there are rules to break, they will be broken and if there is a truth to be told, they will tell have become ominous as the truth of Jean Vanier's life unravels.
Across L'Arche communities,among supporters and in the world that longs for heroes a trust has been betrayed, a lie has been exposed and a myth has vanished.As we struggle to understand the depth of this deception by a religious leader we now find ourselves caught in "Winter in the Forest."
I offer these outlines of the revelations that have been made public as well as a selection of responses and music that I am finding helpful in these dark days.
Summary Report - February 2020
Inquiry and historical timeline
Letter from International Leader – June 2019
Letter from International Leader – July 2019
On 30 January 2023, the members of the Study Commission –
set up in November 2020 by L’Arche International – published their report.
This document of more than 900 pages confirms, among other things, what L’Arche made public in February 2020 (at the conclusion of the investigation it had entrusted to an independent body and a historian), in particular Jean Vanier’s adherence to the doctrines of his spiritual father, Thomas Philippe, and to the abusive practices related to them.
Following this investigation in 2020, in which its founder was seriously implicated, L’Arche decided to set up a Study Commission in order to better understand Jean Vanier’s life orientation, the founding history of L’Arche and the institutional dynamics at work within the organisation. The Study Commission worked independently, backed by a Scientific Committee in charge of monitoring its work.
The leaders of L’Arche International, Stephan Posner and Stacy Cates-Carney, write in their letter to the members of L’Arche: “We are appalled [by the story detailed in the report and the way in which Jean Vanier was intimately involved] and we once again condemn, without reservation, the actions of Jean Vanier and Thomas Philippe which are in total contradiction with the elementary rules of respect and integrity of persons, and contrary to the fundamental principles of our communities.
We sincerely ask for forgiveness from the people who were victims of this abuse. We again express our gratitude to those who, a few years ago, broke the silence about Father Thomas Philippe and then about Jean Vanier and thus helped others to free themselves from an intolerable burden.
We recognise our institutional responsibility for failing to spot these abuses, report them and forestall them. At the same time, we feel that our founder’s adherence to the doctrines of Thomas Philippe and the reproduction of his practices, their concealment and the lies that followed, constitute a serious breach of trust towards L’Arche and its members. ‘’
The two international leaders add: “What justifies L’Arche is not its founder, but the life of its members, with and without disabilities, at the service of a more human society. This task of re-reading our past, will help us remain faithful to this commitment.”
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There is no illegality in any of this; no preying on youth or on the disabled; no calls for compensation. Just a sad but determined effort to cleanse the waters of perception, listen with compassion to the victims, look at the origins of L’Arche in in an unblinkered manner, begin the tasks of healing and of telling the truth. Lies and deception, subterfuge and evasion, have compromised the integrity of the mission of L’Arche. But the international body responsible for the inquiry is committed—with a subdued and eloquent dignity, in my opinion—to recovering its purpose and ensuring its survival by demystifying its origins, holding accountable the spiritual father and spiritual son, and redressing the evils committed.
When Our Heroes Fail Us Chuck DeGroat
I can forgive Eve, the Twelve, Merton and sins of weakness, but I am not ready to forgive Abraham, David, Theodore McCarrick, Vanier, Harvey Weinstein and others who abused their power to prey on the vulnerable. I will leave their forgiveness to God.
Granted that we have been struggling to survive ever since we crawled out of the muck, evil does not surprise me. I am surprised by the problem of good. Why is there good in the world?
https://peterkearney.bandcamp.com/track/24-all-aboard-the-ark |
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