“ In the mid-1980s there had been a ‘breakage’ of about a year in the links with the Pontifical Council for the Laity, when Jean’s lay contact there had required him to state clearly whether L’Arche was or was not a Roman Catholic community.”*  The answer was clear. No, L’Arche was not Roman Catholic but ecumenical, even interfaith. This characteristic was not pre-planned, but it was there, and alive. In the words of its founder, “The vocation of L’Arche is to eat at the same table as people with mental handicaps.  We may not all have Christian faith and we may not all go to church, but we can all eat around the same table.”**  

In recent years, and given the increasing power of extremist and fundamentalist movements, interfaith dialogue and ecumenism have become subjects near and dear to Jean. While being firmly rooted in his Catholic faith, he calls for unity, conveyed in the image of the liturgy of washing of feet, a simple but meaningful act. “By kneeling down before each one, Jesus is saying that he came to destroy prejudice and the walls that separate human beings; he yearns to gather together into one body all the scattered children of God.”***

The rite of the washing of feet is indeed a lovely image of Jean Vanier’s conviction that everyone is sacred. The rite is important in the life of all L’Arche communities, but Jean has also carried it to other contexts. Asked to speak during the Lambeth conference and during the meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, Jean invited the 800 Anglican bishops and the 250 delegates from different Churches around the world to this act of communion and service. He did the same during a festival of peace in Northern Ireland and during many of his retreats.

*Kathryn SPINK, The Miracle, the Message, the Story: Jean Vanier and l’Arche, 2006, Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd., London, p.231 

**Jean VANIER, The Scandal of Service : Jesus Washes Our Feet, Darton, Longman & Todd, 1996/1997, p.7 

***Ibid., p.53