I continue my efforts to make sense of the distressing revelations that Jean Vanier (JV), the once highly-esteemed founder of l'Arche, did himself engage in the sexual abuse of at least six women who sought spiritual direction from him, something that his mentor and spiritual father, Fr. Thomas Philippe, also did to others (according to the l'Arche report). My "initial thoughts on the Jean Vanier revelations" can be found here."Tradition" "Family"
Let me frame these disheartening revelations in the wider context of "tradition" and how we deal with the dark sides of the tradition(s) we belong to. In order to make this hit closer to home (as it does for many of us), the word "tradition" can even be replaced by "family". How do we deal with the dark, even sinister aspects of our tradition, of our family?
Let's recall that, in various senses, each of us belongs to a "tradition" and to a "family." It is a truism of course that we don't usually choose our traditions and families; we're just born into them. And, as we all know too well, no family is perfect. Some families are not only imperfect, they contain very dark and sinister elements within them. This holds true many times for the groups or the relationships we enter into. No one can perfectly know a potential "friend" or a group one can possibly join at the beginning of the relationship. Unfortunately, we often find ourselves already in a relationship with persons or with groups before we find out the darkness in them.
In the wake of these revelations about Jean Vanier, the reason why I bring up 'traditions and families' here is that I'm thinking of l'Arche above all. I know quite a few people who consider l'Arche their family in a deep sense. How are they holding up now? How do they deal with the destruction of the founder Jean Vanier's holy image after these credible allegations that he himself engaged in sexual abuse?
And then there are the scores of people who may not be strictly connected with l'Arche but whose lives have been touched for the better by Jean Vanier, directly or indirectly, maybe through l'Arche, maybe through JV's teachings received in various forms, or perhaps even just through the high esteem in which JV was held for a long time by many people before the publication of the damning report on his abusive practices. All of us (and I count myself one of those touched by Vanier) have now to make sense of the figure and legacy of Vanier in the light of these recent revelations of sexual abuse by the once-revered founder. How do we go about doing this?
The Parable of the Weeds among the Wheat
There is an intriguing parable of Jesus in Matthew 13:24-30 (NIV version) which, I feel, could speak powerfully to the situation at hand. It goes like this:
The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn
In my continuing efforts to make sense of the Jean Vanier revelations, my thoughts turn to this parable. It presents a powerful image of humanity (and everything that pertains to humanity) ... at all levels. Everything is strictly characterized by this metaphorical situation - weeds among the wheat. There is no perfectly pure entity, be it a person, a church, a group, an organization or practically anything under the sun. Every.single.thing is a mixture of "weeds and wheat." This teaching is echoed in practically every religious tradition: "yin and yang," "light and darkness," "samsara and nirvana" (and so forth) are frequently thought and taught to coexist; to mix and fuse; some traditions go so far as to teach that one cannot be without the other. Yes, what is really striking is that "the good wheat and the bad weeds" have to be allowed to coexist and to grow together because, as the householder wisely says in the parable, "while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them" (v. 29).
Becoming a Grown-Up Member of a Family and a Tradition
Growing up is not easy; it's frequently accompanied by lots of "growing pains" (as this kind of pain is very appropriately named). If you had the fortune of having had a happy childhood, one aspect of growing-up is discovering that daddy is not the superman or mommy is not the wonder woman you once thought them to be. At some point, those idealized images just fall apart. In many instances in the process of growing up, we realize just how human our idealized "heroes" in life are - they're deeply flawed. Sometimes, we shockingly discover that these heroes have very sinister and toxic sides to them. In this Vanier affair, the hallowed icon has now been defaced and tragically shattered, without any hope of being restored.
However, we should recall that becoming a grown-up means, among other things, acquiring the capability of dealing with the dark and nefarious sides of our family and tradition, particularly in the "revered" people who embody them. It is especially painful when a personified embodiment of the tradition is discovered to have done evil. Human weaknesses, isolated slips and falls may be more easily excused, but when the embodiment of the tradition's most sacred ideals is found to have been in a continual state of deception about and even betrayal of the very ideals he himself had taught, this is really irredeemable. How to make sense of this?
Again, weeds among the wheat. I must say though that in this case, "weeds" is too benign an image. It doesn't communicate the nefarious quality of these revelations. But the idea is there: evil and good ... coexisting, commingling, growing together, often hard to separate. This is very much part of the mystery of life, in front of which we can only bow down and acknowledge because we fail to truly grasp so much of it.
I also think that it's crucial to affirm another aspect of--what I'll call--the "weeds among the wheat" principle: Both good and evil are greater than any one person or thing. They transcend any individual or thing. Each and every one of us is part of the bigger structures of good and evil that envelop us. Each and every one of us has both good and evil within. Each and every one of us has both an imago Dei (image of God)-a Buddha nature, as well as its opposite, so that no one is unilaterally good or evil. Weeds among the wheat.
(Having said that, I will add though that I fully agree with Jamie Manson's points in her "No, Jean Vanier is not 'like all of us,'" reminding us that there is a particular evil to be found in JV's pattern of behavior)
L'Arche: What the "Wheat" has Become
When I look at the "wheat" and what it has become, I am profoundly grateful. L'Arche, according to its self-definition, serves adults with physical and intellectual disabilities and is rooted in values that recognize the dignity of each person, the importance of belonging in a community, and the creation of a more just society. It's an amazing community and organization. This is a reality that needs to be treasured and cherished, now more than ever! Where did this come from? What is Jean Vanier's part in the development of this magnificent "wheat"? I don't really know the right answers to those queries but I will just stammer out for now (and I may be wrong about this!) ... that if good was perceived in JV or if good was perceived to have come out of him, it's because, yes, he, like all deeply flawed human beings, was also able to tap into the wider matrix of good that thankfully envelops and contains all of us.
And yet we mourn the evil...
And yet, there is no condoning the sinister abuse of others that JV perpetrated over a long course of time. The problem of evil here just stumps all of us and we can only, once again, bow down ... acknowledge it ... and, for now, mourn.
... Hopefully, we can in time recover a little strength, enough for us to get up and move on ... for that is the grown-up thing to do.
L'Arche's Amazing Courage and Transparency
In closing, let me clearly say that I admire the leadership of l'Arche for taking the initiative to commission an independent investigation that led to the revelations of these wrenching and sordid sides of its founder.
I apologize that I'll have to say this hurtful thing about the Catholic hierarchy but I think it is fair: L'Arche is led by lay people, not church hierarchs ... and very thankfully so. Because this non-clergy leadership displayed firstly an admirable compassion for the victims, as well as courage, transparency, and accountability in the face of damning truths about its once-revered founder. Isn't this an amazing case of a lay-led (not clergy-led!) organization courageously striving to make itself accountable? It's an amazing breath of fresh air in leadership! For once an organization rooted in the Catholic tradition gets leadership right! (Of course that was hyperbole because many other Catholic leadership structures display amazing leadership!) But just imagine if clergymen were leading this organization, I'm sorry to say from the record that chances are, the process would have been very different ... (and I'll stop there)
Thank you, l'Arche, from the heart, and more, yes a lot more power to you!
My reports on the 2019 Toronto theological colloquium on the Catholic sexual abuse crisis can be found here . Another article with my biblical reflections on the sexual abuse crisis entitled "Remembering Jerusalem While Rome Burns" can be found here.
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