Photo credit: © Elodie Pierrot/L'Arche

L’Arche was founded in France in 1964 by Jean Vanier (1929-2019). With the help of a group of friends and supporters, Vanier welcomed Raphaël Simi and Philippe Seux, men with learning disabilities who had been living in an asylum, to live with him in a house in Trosly-Breuil.  Many others from all walks of life, with and without learning disabilities, were inspired by this initiative, and it evolved into the L’Arche model of shared life, now in 160 Communities in 37 countries. 

During his life Jean Vanier was widely admired as an advocate of spirituality, and of community shared with people with learning disabilities.  After his death an independent investigation and a follow-up Study Commission found that, between 1950 and 2019, at least 25 women, all of them people without disabilities, experienced sexual contact with Vanier, as part of a continuum of confusion, control, and abuse. (1)

L'Arche is committed to sharing the facts of Jean Vanier’s abuse openly and transparently and learning lessons from it.  We continue to reflect on what our 60-year history means for our mission and values today.  We are increasingly attentive to the power imbalances in community life and how to make sure these are not abused. We are more focused than ever on the voice, power and safety of people who are too often marginalised.  

Our experience of dealing with this together, and of living life together day by day, brings us back to things which have always been at the heart of L’Arche – mutuality, friendship, and the spiritual life of every human person.  L’Arche people remain passionately committed to these things.