Jean Vanier, co-founder of L’Arche, allegedly sexually assaulted 25 women.

L’Arche Internationale on Monday identified 25 women who at some point experienced a relationship with Jean Vanier during a commission’s investigation. A situation involving a sexual act or intimate gestureBetween 1952 and his death in 2019.

However, according to the findings of a group of independent French academics, this number may be higher. The Commission considers that this number of twenty-five is less than the actual number of women involvedReading the summary of the report.

Jean Vanier, the son of former Canadian Governor General Georges Vanier, was a Canadian naval officer and university professor in Toronto before turning to Catholic-inspired charities. He founded L’Arche in 1964 as an alternative living environment where people with intellectual disabilities could be full participants in society instead of patients.

“Continuity of Chaos”

L’Arche commissioned a 908-page report to better understand the actions of Jean Vanier and Catholic priest Father Thomas Philippe. spiritual father. The previous report was made public in February 2020 Jean Vanier had manipulative sexual relationships with at least six women in France between 1975 and 1990 and used his power over them to take advantage of them.

New report refers to relationships between Jean Vanier and women who died in 2019 It’s all part of a continuum of confusion, control and abuse.

File photo of Jean Vanier during a demonstration in support of people with disabilities in France.

Photo: Getty Images/Pierre Michaud/Gamma-Rabo

The report’s authors cast doubt on Jean Vanier’s account of L’Arche’s origins, saying it was not. expression A visit to a mental institution led him to discover the charity. On the contrary, his devotion to helping the disabled made him a Screen To continue his association with Thomas Philip, who established the trusts Mystical-sexuality and had previously been sanctioned by the Catholic Church for abuse.

They reveal that the hidden cult identified people seeking spiritual guidance and used them for sexual purposes. It was mainly founded in the French town of Trosly-Breuil, where L’Arche was founded.

Most of the cases of restraint and sexual abuse referred to the Commission have occurred within the community of Drosley.The report says. Accused sexual abusers have also held positions as members, with victims still living nearby.

There is no evidence of abuse of people with intellectual disabilities. The alleged abuse was mostly confined to the community in France, but the commission said it had received complaints of abuse in other countries, including Canada and India. The women linked to Jeanne Vanier are all described as young, between the ages of 20 and 35, married or religiously committed.

” Without declaring themselves all victims, the women who testify underscore the confusion between spiritual, emotional, and sexual platforms that characterizes the relationship. »

In a press release, L’Arche Canada supports the report and thanks the women who volunteered. We stand with them and others who have been abused.The Canadian branch writes.

L’Arche renews his apology

The February 2020 revelations left the Canadian branch and many other companies wondering what to do about Jean Vanier. His name is associated with many Catholic schools across Canada, and he is the recipient of numerous honours, including the Order of Canada and the Ordre National du Québec.

There are 160 L’Arche communities in 38 countries, including 28 communities and two projects in Canada.

The team that conducted the research included historians, a sociologist, a psychiatrist, a psychoanalyst and a theologian. They conducted 119 interviews with 89 people, and read numerous archival documents from L’Arche and religious orders. They found no sign of a cover-up of activities confined to a small core of the faction that included Jean Vanier and Thomas Philippe.

In a letter, L’Arche International leaders say they are appalled by the details revealed Monday, again condemning Jean Vanier’s actions, apologizing for not discovering the abuse and thanking those who came forward.

We repeat our gratitude to those who, a few years ago, broke the silence about Father Thomas Philippe (in 2014) and then Jean Vanier, and helped others to free themselves from an unbearable burden.Write international authorities, including: What justifies L’Arche is not its founder, but the lives of its members, with and without disabilities, in the service of a more humane society.