Inquiry shocks Catholic community

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This article was published 25/02/2020 (2230 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

RECONCILING the troubling portrait of humanitarian Jean Vanier revealed during an investigation into allegations of sexual and psychological abuse with the image of a man dedicated to advancing rights for people with intellectual disabilities will be complicated and take time, the leader of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg says.

Members of Winnipeg’s Catholic community familiar with Jean Vanier, his writings and work as founder of global charity L’Arche International are experiencing disappointment and surprise, Archbishop Richard Gagnon said after learning Vanier engaged in manipulative and emotionally abusive sexual relationships characterized by significant imbalances of power and under coercive conditions with at least six women.

“These are certainly things to be condemned, obviously because of the damage it has caused to the women, even to Jean himself, let alone the L’Arche organization,” Gagnon said. “It has a horizontal effect, a rippling effect.”

The abuses described by the six adult women, who did not have intellectual disabilities, occurred in France over 35 years, between 1970 and 2005. A summary report of the inquiry was released Saturday.

Vanier was a prominent Catholic Canadian and religious figure who in 1964, founded L’Arche in Trosly, France to provide alternative living environments for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. L’Arche now has 154 interfaith communities in 38 countries, including Winnipeg, where 27 members live in familial settings at six homes and at two apartments in the city.

Vanier, who died in May 2019, was a Companion of the Order of Canada, received France’s Legion of Honour, Britain’s Templeton Prize and authored more than 30 books.

The inquiry was struck in March 2019 after a new allegation against Vanier was brought to the attention of L’Arche International. The charity hired GCPS Consulting, a U.K.-based group with experience in prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, to gather testimony and evidence.

Gagnon said he was shocked at the findings of the inquiry, after having met Vanier on multiple occasions and visiting L’Arche communities in Vancouver and France.

“There’s two things here: on one side of this you have a man who was very inspirational who did a tremendous amount of good in the world, and that good continues,” Gagnon said.

“I would say Jean Vanier, he really changed the world and, I think, the way that we look at people with mental disabilities.

“He was remarkably talented and inspirational and I believe that to be entirely genuine, on the one side, here.

“On the other side you have his private life from which these allegations stem, and so the two things are so disjointed…. It’s difficult to put them together in your mind. So it’s just one of those things; the private lives of people sometimes have deep shadows, and so on, and Jean certainly had his.”

Inclusion Winnipeg executive director Janet Forbes said her colleagues in the support sector are similarly struggling to understand the behaviour attributed to Vanier, especially in the context that people with intellectual disabilities are at increased risk of exploitation and abuse.

“It’s not OK, and I commend L’Arche for doing the internal investigation that they did and not letting it go just because he passed away,” Forbes said.

Vanier’s writings and philosophies were quite influential and offered frameworks to create successful communities that were used within Winnipeg, Forbes said, and most people in the field were familiar with his work. The findings of the inquiry, however upsetting, also confirm that people remain at risk for being mistreated, and reinforces the need for stronger systems to prevent abuse from occurring, she said.

“Any time when you have people who are so under the influence or control of someone else, that risk is high, and we know for people with intellectual disabilities many of them live their lives with little control over their own lives,” Forbes said.

“Everything that we can do to promote more awareness or possible solutions to supporting people, is going to help.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca