Jean Vanier

Jean Vanier’s belief that people with developmental disabilities

should live in communities rather than in isolation from them

launched an international movement - “L’Arche” - that has now

spread to thirty countries.

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When he was just thirteen, Jean Vanier set out to become a naval officer and could have
had a very successful career. But as a young man, he felt something greater was calling
him. He quit the navy and began a search for meaning in his life, believing that God had a
plan for him.
As the son of one of Canada’s governor generals, Vanier grew up with a life of privilege.
But when he became friends with a priest in France who worked with the
developmentally disabled, he was exposed to another world - a world where people were
rejected, feared, or ignored because of their mental disabilities. Vanier felt God wanted
him to do something to address this form of prejudice.
So Vanier bought an old farmhouse, named it L’Arche (French for Noah’s Ark), and
invited two developmentally disabled men to come and live with him in a real home.
Without knowing it, Jean Vanier had started an international movement. There are now
more than 130 L’Arche communities in thirty countries around the world.
That didn’t happen overnight or by itself. Vanier traveled the globe, spreading his
message that the mentally disabled would be better off living in communities instead of
institutions - and that all of us would be better off if we shared our lives with people who
challenge our way of thinking, and show us different perspectives.