An extraordinary presence
Martha Bala
Jean is a humble role model, mentor and friend who inspires through his respectfully loving each person as they are.
Among the Great Ones of this World
Jean-Louis Munn
From Mother Teresa to Pope John Paul II, Jean Vanier's life has been profoundly marked by his encounters with the great ones of this world.
Jean Vanier and Mother Teresa
Sue Mosteller
'Friends in the Spirit', Mother Theresa and Jean Vanier are two beautiful human beings who accompanied each other on their respective life-missions.
Short biography
Testimonials
 
The Philosopher
Jacques Dufresne
Jean Vanier's philosophy was born in his coming to understand the import of the experience of human suffering.
Jean Vanier on Becoming Human
Pamela Cushing
The universality and centrality of our shared fragility has the potential to unite us in commonality.
An Unusual Theologian
John Swinton
At the heart of Vanier’s theology is the human desire to belong.
A Man of Letters
Hélène Laberge
In both senses of the term, as an author and letter-writer, Jean Vanier is a man of letters
Bibliography - Jean Vanier's Writings
 
The Founder
Jean Vanier' s struggle, started in the small village of Trosly in 1964, continues today. The road to justice and peace demands a lifetime commitment.
L'Arche in the World
The 135 communities of L'Arche bring together men and women with or without an intellectual disability.
Faith and Light
Siège social et secrétariat international
An international network of mutual care and community support for people affected by intellectual disabilities

L'Arche in the World

Organized into The International Federation of L'Arche in 1985, the 135 communities of L'Arche bring together men and women with or without an intellectual disability who share the same desire to reveal the important and necessary contribution of people who for lack of intellectual capacities have developed great capacities at the level of the heart.


L'Arche, with its 135 communities in more than 36 countries, responds to only a very small part of the immense needs arising from the situation of rejection or exclusion that people with intellectual disabilities experience in the world today.

According to its founder Jean Vanier, this is why L'Arche is above all a sign, a work of justice, demonstrating that there is another way to live in society with those who are rejected or excluded due to the fact that they are incapable of being integrated into a society of competition that promotes individualism and aims only at efficiency and profit.

International Federation of L'Arche

Organized into The International Federation of L'Arche in 1985, the 135 communities of L'Arche bring together men and women with or without an intellectual disability who share the same desire to reveal the important and necessary contribution of people who for lack of intellectual capacities have developed great capacities at the level of the heart.

Engaged in various countries, the communities are rooted in their respective cultures where they develop community environments that are secure and welcoming and that promote a coming together of people who are very different (culture, social class, education, ability of the head or of the heart). They also promote a feeling of belonging to the same human community.

Every four years, the International Federation of L'Arche assembles representatives from all the L'Arche communities in the world. Together they deepen their reflection in order to continue the work of Jean Vanier and ensure the growth of the L'Arche communities. The last assembly of delegates took place in Kolkata in India. The next will be held in 2012 in Atlanta, USA.

International Coordinator : Jean-Christophe Pascal

L'Arche Internationale
25 rue Rosenwald
75015 Paris France 
email : international@larche.org

L'Arche is ...

L’Arche is a place where each person is welcomed as she or he is, with his or her own history, gifts, culture, traditions and religion. In spite of our differences and the challenges these carry, the search for unity is at the heart of what we do and how we live our life together in community.

Intellectual Disability in the World

Today the United Nations estimates at more than 100 million the number of people in the world who have an intellectual disability. In industrialized countries, 2.5% to 3% of the population live with an intellectual disability of one form or another. The number of these people is particularly difficult to evaluate in countries where intellectual disabilities are hidden socially. In countries suffering from war and famine, often there are no statistics. Under such conditions, men, women and children with disabilities are the first to be abandoned to their own fate.

A Global Movement

L'Arche is welcoming people of diverse backgrounds and cultural and religious traditions. All of them, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and others including people who follow no religion, mixing together. Each community reflects their local culture,language and local traditions.

''Different People''

Vanier was quick to point out that he found in these 'different people' whatever their origin, the same ability to cut through the pretense of their culture, the same desire to reach out to others across their differences, the same love of peace and willingness to overlook and to forgive.