How Jean Vanier went from a ‘living saint’ to a sexual abuser

Jean Vanier was the founder of L’Arche, a network of intentional
communities where people with and without disabilities live
alongside one another in mutual friendship. While he was considered
a “living saint” up until his death in 2019, allegations that he
had sexually abused six adult, nondisabled women sent shockwaves
throughout the L’Arche Community. And more recently, a nearly
900-page report was released last Monday shed more light on the
scope of the abuse. Jenna Barnett has been following this story
since it broke. She is the host of the new podcast “Lead Us Not”
from Sojourners. We talk to Jenna about Vanier and how L’Arche is
responding, as well as larger questions about how we hold in
tension the good works created by deeply flawed, charismatic
founders. During Signs of the Times, we talk about the developing
situation between the church and the government in Nicaragua, where
four priests were sentenced to 10 years in prison, as well as Notre
Dame’s new food delivery robots. (After we recorded, news broke
that the four priests were part of a group of 222 political
prisoners who were deported from Nicaragua and will take refuge in
the United States.) Links from the show:  Listen to “Lead Us
Not” New report finds evidence Jean Vanier founded L’Arche to
reunite a religious sect with ‘mystical-sexual’ practices
Explainer: The Catholic Church’s fraught relationship with the
Nicaraguan government Robot food delivery launches at the
University of Notre Dame Remembering Rachel Held Evans What’s on
tap? Champagne for Zac’s 30th  Learn more about your ad
choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices