Independent report details the incidents, but cautions ‘the full extent of his activities has yet to be determined’
At least 25 women were abused over nearly seven decades by Jean Vanier, the Canadian co-founder of L’Arche, a global organization for the intellectually disabled, a lengthy independent report has found after a two-year investigation.
His victims were not disabled, but adult women who, when the transgressions first occurred, were between the ages of 20 and 35. Their number included nuns and both married and single women working at L’Arche. Most of them were Catholic, with access to what the report refers to as “high cultural resources.” Half came from privileged social backgrounds.
Mr. Vanier – the once revered founder of the world’s most progressive communities for adults with disabilities, a frequent candidate for the Nobel Prize who changed the way the world understood the intellectually disabled – is revealed as the centre of a “cult” that practised bizarre, religiously motivated sexual rituals.
Père Thomas used L’Eau vive to procure partners for the unorthodox sexual appetites he developed in 1938. By his account, he was standing in front of a fresco of the Virgin Mary and experienced a “mystic union” with her and his “graces” – which included his genitals. When first confronted with these details sixty years later, Mr. Vanier claimed little detailed knowledge of what had happened. “Suddenly that woman found herself in his arms,” he is quoted as saying.
Mr. Vanier provided the cleric with overalls and a motorcycle balaclava so the notorious apostate could move about undetected. He also ensured that the little ones were “well rested” for their encounters with Père Thomas. In return, Thomas arranged “immediate access to ‘exceptional mystic graces’” – sexual experiences.
“I did not know if it was good or bad,” one of his victims said. “After the first time, I was totally lost … At the same time, it also made me feel good.” Said another: “I didn’t want to disappoint him.”
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