On May 7th, 2019 Jean Vanier, friend of the intellectually disabled and founder of L’Arche died aged 90.  Jean’s first L’Arche community began when he purchased a small house with no electricity or running water in a small village outside of Paris and invited two men with learning difficulties to share it with him.

Today, L’Arche (the Ark) has 150 communities, in 38 countries supporting 3500 people with learning disabilities with day services as well as residential homes.

Pope Francis was kept up to date with Jean’s failing health and spoke to him shortly before his death to thank him for his work.  He said Vanier stood up for those “who risk being condemned to death even before being born.”

“Simply put, I want to thank him and thank God for having given us this man with such a great witness,” the Pope said.

To read more about L’Arche communities, please click here.