Canadian L’Arche group shocked by report founder sexually abused women

A report by a French-based charity that helps people who are developmentally disabled has concluded its late Canadian founder had “manipulative sexual relationships” with women over several decades, shocking members of the group that continue his work today.

According to the report released by L’Arche International Saturday, the women’s descriptions provide evidence enough to show that Jean Vanier engaged in “manipulative sexual relationships” over a period from 1970 to 2005, usually with a “psychological hold” over the alleged victims. Vanier died last year at age 90.

“The alleged victims felt deprived of their free will and so the sexual activity was coerced or took place under coercive conditions,” the report said. It did not rule out potential other victims.

None of the women was disabled, a significant point given the Vatican has long sought to portray any sexual relationship between religious leaders and other adults as consensual unless there was clear evidence of disability. The #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, however, have forced a recognition that power imbalances such as those in spiritual relationships can breed abuse.

During the inquiry, commissioned by L’Arche last year and carried out by the independent, U.K.-based GCPS Consulting group, six adult, non-disabled women said Vanier had engaged in sexual relations with them as they were seeking spiritual direction.

According to the report, the women, who have no links to each other, reported similar facts and Vanier’s sexual misconduct was often associated with alleged “spiritual and mystical justifications.”

A statement released by L’Arche France Saturday stressed that some women still have “deep wounds.”

Vanier, son of former governor general Georges P. Vanier, worked as a Canadian navy officer and professor before turning to charity work. A visit to a psychiatric facility prompted him to found the charity L’Arche in 1964 as an alternative living environment where those with developmental disabilities could be full-fledged participants in the community instead of patients.

The charity now has facilities in 38 countries that are home to thousands of people both with and without disabilities.

A Facebook post Saturday morning from L’Arche Daybreak, in Richmond Hill, Ont., which was the first of 29 Canadian communities of the charity, said the news out of France was troubling.

“We at L’Arche Daybreak are both shocked and saddened by the findings because this behaviour, as revealed in the report, betrays the fundamental values of our organization,” the post said.

Jocelyn Girard, a former official from two L’Arche communities who met Vanier several times in France and in Quebec, between 1998 and 2010, hoped the news would not deprive the communities of precious funding.

He said people and assistants who have been transformed for the rest of their lives will now have to assume that it is not Vanier who transformed them, but the people with disabilities themselves who lived in the communities.

L’Arche Daybreak, in its Facebook post, praised the women.

“We honour the courage of the victims who came forward and stand in solidarity with them and with all victims of abuse,” the Ontario group said in the post.

Maria Rizzo, a former North York city councillor and current Toronto Catholic District School Board Trustee addressed questions about changing the name of TCDSB schools named after Vanier in light of the allegations contained in the report.

“I’m having trouble taking this in,” she tweeted on Saturday. “I haven’t processed allegations due to shock. We need to reflect & consult school community as a 1st step.”

Cardinal Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, issued a statement Saturday describing the revelations as “tragic and heartwrenching.”

“In the midst of this darkness, we find a ray of light in those who so faithfully serve in L’Arche communities worldwide and have dedicated their lives to friendship, care and love,” Collins said.

The report noted similarities with the pattern of abuse of the Rev. Thomas Philippe, a Catholic priest Vanier called his “spiritual father.” Philippe, who died in 1993, has been accused of sexual abuse by several women.

A statement from L’Arche International said analysis of archives shows that Vanier “adopted some of Father Thomas Philippe’s deviant theories and practices.” Philippe was banned from exercising any public or private ministry in a trial led by the Catholic Church in 1956 for his theories and the sexual practices that stemmed from them.

Vanier, who was unmarried, also travelled the world to encourage dialogue across religions, and was awarded the 2015 Templeton Prize for spiritual work, as well as France’s Legion of Honor. He was the subject of a documentary shown at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival called “Jean Vanier, the Sacrament of Tenderness.”

The allegations against Vanier reveal a major gap in the Catholic Church’s handling of sex abuse allegations to date: Because he was a layman, he was exempt from the Vatican’s in-house sanctioning procedures for abuse, which only cover priests, bishops and cardinals. For these offenders, the worst penalty the Vatican can impose is defrocking – essentially, making the priests laymen again.

A similar case concerned the lay leader of a Peru-based organization, Sodalicio, who escaped Vatican justice for years even though there were credible allegations of sexual, physical and psychological abuse against him. The Vatican finally ordered him to live in isolation from his followers, a penalty that drew scorn from his victims given that it amounted to an all-expense-paid retirement in Rome.