» Who we are » Key people of the Federation
People with an intellectual disability are at the heart of L’Arche. The Federation has about 2.700 members with a disability. This column introduces you to one of them. Visit us again in some weeks, and you will be able to meet another one of the people at the heart of L’Arche. Read...
L’Arche would not exist without those who come to live with our members with an intellectual disability. Assistants come from a variety of backgrounds, countries, social origins, and religious traditions. Some come for a lifetime, others for a year. Read...
For nearly four decades, Jean Vanier has travelled the world fashioning a network of homes where people with developmental disabilities, volunteers and a sprinkling of staff live together in community. Those we lock away and think worthless, he says, have the power to teach and even to heal us. We are all “broken” in some way, he believes. (…) “When you start living with people with disabilities”, he says, “you begin to discover a whole lot of things about yourself.” He learned that to “be human is to be bonded together, each with our own weaknesses and strengths, because we need each other.” (…) Tall and stooped, Vanier radiates the strength of a man who has fought his own inner battles and surfaced with peace. (Maclean’s/September 4, 2000, p.33) Read...
“After sixty years of priesthood, I am pleased to notice that it is amongst people with an intellectual disability that I have been able to be the apostle of the Holy Preaching which comes right from the heart and which is addressed to the heart.” (Father Thomas Philippe on the occasion of his 60th anniversary of priesthood) Read...
Raphael could not teach me French and could not answer the phone for me. He could not do anything except for being my friend and standing by me - and that’s what he did. He came to the office everyday, made us coffee, hugged me and gave me a kiss to remind me he thought about me. It did not matter to him whether I spoke French or not. He was not interested in my successes or failures as a community leader. I was here, and that was enough for him. (George Durner, Regional Coordinator, France) Read...
The first time I saw Jean Vanier was in a centre which I wasn’t allowed to leave. I saw him at the Chapel, and then he gave out the soup. First, I was impressed. I thought that the table was so small as he was so tall.” Read...
Henri Nouwen was an internationally renowned priest, author and professor who spent the last 11 years of his life in the L'Arche communities of Trosly, France and Daybreak, Canada. Read...
Alison is Irish and lives in Dublin, Ireland. She is married to Kevin and has three sons and one daughter. She is a graduate of University College Dublin where she obtained a degree in History and Politics and a graduate of Kings Inns where she obtained the degree of Barrister–at–law. She is a lawyer by profession, specialising in Civil Law, in particular family and property law. She practised for nearly ten years in the west of Ireland and then moved to Cork where she continued to practise at the Bar and began to serve on Tribunals such as the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Compensation Tribunal for those suffering from Hepatitis C as a result of the negligence of the State. In 1996 she was appointed a judge of the Circuit Court in Dublin. She continues to hold that position. Read...
Patrick was born in Toulouse, France in 1951, the youngest of five children. His father was a commercial representative and his mother left her profession as a nurse when the children began to arrive. Patrick went to a Jesuit secondary school and was appreciatively influenced by their pedagogy, spirituality and their openness to the world. For several years, he was a member of an international group of young Christians interested in Mission and Development in the world. It was in this group that he met Monique, his future wife. Read...
Eileen Glass is Australian and lives in Canberra. She was educated at Monash University, Melbourne, where she obtained a BA and a Diploma in Education. At the same time she obtained an Associate Diploma in Speech and Drama through external studies with the Trinity College of Music, London. Read...