Jean Vanier: A Troubled Legacy with Daniel Rempel

This week’s episode takes a critical look at Jean Vanier’s complicated legacy. On the one hand, Vanier’s work with L’Arche was transformative for how people with disabilities are seen and cared for around the world. However, on the other hand, we found out after his passing that he was complicit in sexual abuse and the coverup of abuse by his mentor. My friend Daniel Rempel joins me for a conversation about how to navigate learning from a compromised figure like Vanier.

Daniel Rempel is a PhD Candidate at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. He works in the area of Disability theology and Karl Barth.

Further Reading and Resources:

Brock, Brian, and John Swinton, eds. Disability in the Christian Tradition: A Reader. Grand Rapids, Mich: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2012.

Rempel, Daniel. “Intellectual Disability, Community, and the Other.” The Journal of the Christian Institute on Disability 8.2 (Fall/Winter 2019). 

Krahn, Sarah. “A Theo-Politics of Coercion – The Heresies of Jean Vanier” Rupert’s Land News, May 4, 2020.

Vanier, Jean. Becoming Human. UK ed. edition. London: Darton,Longman & Todd Ltd, 1999.

Summary Report on Vanier’s Abuse from L’Arche.

L’Arche International: https://www.larche.org/welcome