11/03/2015
Archbishop Justin Welby said: 鈥淭he astonishing life and work of Jean Vanier makes him a most worthy recipient of the Templeton Prize.
鈥淓very time one meets Jean, one has a sense of new horizons opening up, of a new vision opening before one鈥檚 eyes of what it is to be human and of what it is to be in a community.
鈥淭he L鈥橝rche Communities that Jean Vanier founded some 50 years ago, where people with and without learning disabilities share life together, turn society鈥檚 assumptions about the strong and the weak upside down. Those the world considers 鈥榳eak鈥, through their disabilities, are those who bring hope and strength lived out in community. Those who are 鈥榮trong鈥 discover they need the 鈥榳eak鈥. This is nothing less than the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth, as Jesus prayed it would.
鈥淚 give thanks that the Spirit of God is using Jean Vanier鈥檚 life and ministry so powerfully to challenge those inside and outside the church to think about how they relate to those around them.鈥
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