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A Charity of Mutuality and Hospitality: L'Arche's Witness to Catholic Theology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2020

Brent Little
Brent Little*
Affiliation:
Sacred Heart University
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Abstract

Through the writings of Jean Vanier, this paper encourages Catholic theologians to examine critically their theological sources and their own rhetoric for the context of developmental disabilities. Specifically, this thought experiment is an invitation for the Catholic academy to consider how its theologies of charity can assist the church to reflect on its pastoral ministry to people with developmental disabilities. Some Catholic discourse is built on an assumed one-directional concept of charity that emphasizes the agency and gifts of the giver over the receiver. Such a one-sided model of hospitality tends to emphasize the giver as the person without developmental disabilities, whereas the person with disabilities is described as the receiver of hospitality; their own gifts and agency thereby are either unacknowledged or downplayed. This paper argues, instead, that Catholic theologies of charity, particularly regarding developmental disabilities, should be built on a mutuality that affirms each person's agency to be both a giver and a receiver of charity.

Keywords

VanierL'ArcheRahnertheologies of charitydevelopmental disabilities
Type
Articles
Information
Horizons , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , June 2020 , pp. 46 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © College Theology Society, 2020

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Footnotes

Author's Note:As this article was already in production with the publisher, the leadership of L'Arche International announced the conclusions of an independent inquiry into credible allegations of emotional and sexual abuse by Jean Vanier of several adult women (without developmental disabilities). For all of us who are involved in the work of L'Arche, the revelation of these events was shocking and very much in conflict with our public perception of Jean Vanier's personhood. Consequently, the following article now functions as a kind of swan song to scholars’ initial appropriation of Vanier's legacy, one that upheld his writings and life with great enthusiasm and with little or no concerns. I ask readers to keep this context in mind as they read the article; doubtlessly, if it were written after these revelations, the article's central argument would be articulated very differently. To state the obvious, scholars will now need to be much more critical about Vanier himself. But L'Arche must go on, for its spirit is embodied in the life of numerous core members, their families, friends, and assistants, spread around the world in more than 150 locations. Fundamentally, the work of L'Arche is the work of the gospel, a proclamation that all people are created in the image of God with invaluable gifts to be nurtured by, and shared with, their communities.

References

1 By practical theology, I am following the “basic definition” of John Swinton, who argued that “practical theology is theological reflection on the praxis of the church as it strives to remain faithful to the continuing mission of the Triune God in, to, and for the world.” See Swinton, John, “The Body of Christ Has Down's Syndrome: Theological Reflections on Vulnerability, Disability, and Graceful Communities,” Journal of Pastoral Theology 13, no. 2 (2003): 66–78CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 66; italics in the original.

2 Vanier, Jean, The Heart of L'Arche: A Spirituality for Every Day (Toronto: Novalis/Geoffrey Chapman/Crossroad, 1995), 28Google Scholar.

3 Nancy Eiesland, in her now classic The Disabled God, points out that the phrase “people with disabilities” covers an extensive range of conditions. As Eiesland insists, people with physical disabilities do not need others to engage in theological reflection on their behalf, and it would be condescending to do so. See Eiesland, Nancy L., The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), 23–24Google Scholar.

4 Hauerwas, Stanley, “Timeful Friends: Living with the Handicapped,” in Critical Reflections on Stanley Hauerwas’ Theology of Disability: Disabling Society, Enabling Theology, ed. Swinton, John (Binghamton, NY: The Haworth Pastoral Press, 2004), 13–14Google Scholar.

5 In this sense, I am following the example of Jennie Weiss Block, who notes that she can speak only for her own opinion and cannot claim to speak for other people with disabilities. See Block, Jennie Weiss, Copious Hosting: A Theology of Access for People with Disabilities (New York: Continuum, 2002), 12Google Scholar.

6 Iozzio, Mary Jo, “Catholicism and Disability,” in Disability and World Religions: An Introduction, eds. Schumm, Darla Y. and Stoltzfus, Michael (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016), 116Google Scholar. Of course, this issue is not confined to the context of developmental disabilities. Speaking from a Kenyan perspective, Samuel Kabue, who self-identifies as blind, describes his frustration with faith-based organizations that consistently emphasize their service as “helping” those in need. In other words, people with blindness are not always recognized as capable of self-sufficiency or encouraged to develop their talents and gifts. Kabue, Samuel, “Living with Disability,” in Interpreting Disability: A Church of All and for All, eds. Fritzson, Arne and Kabue, Samuel (Geneva: WCC [World Council of Churches] Publications, 2004), 32–33Google Scholar.

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8 Block, Copious Hosting, 51.

9 Reynolds, Thomas E., Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2008), 38Google Scholar.

10 Masters, Anne, “An Opportunity for Charity? A Catholic Tradition in Understanding Disability and Its Impact on Ministry,” Journal of Disability and Religion 20, no. 3 (2016): 223CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Coincidentally, one starting point for Masters’ article is the same as the catalyst for my investigation. See David M. Perry's article, “Pope Francis Needs to Do More than Kiss the Disabled,” on the blog Crux, June 14, 2016, https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2016/06/14/pope-francis-needs-kiss-disabled/.

11 Relatio Finalis, 21. See Synod of Bishops, The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and in the Contemporary World: The Final Report of the Synod of Bishops to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, October 24, 2015, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/synod/documents/rc_synod_doc_20151026_relazione-finale-xiv-assemblea_en.html.

12 Amoris Laetitia, 47, March 19, 2016; https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20160319_amoris-laetitia_en.pdf.

13 Masters, “An Opportunity for Charity?,” 221.

14 Carlson, Mary, “Making the Invisible Visible: Inviting Persons with Disabilities into the Life of the Church,” Horizons 45, no. 1 (2018): 46CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 Spink, Kathryn, Jean Vanier and L'Arche: A Communion of Love (New York: Crossroad, 1991), 7–8Google Scholar.

16 Jean Vanier, “The Vision of Jesus: Living Peaceably in a Wounded World,” in Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness, Resources for Reconciliation, eds. Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 59–75, esp. 62.

17 Vanier, “The Vision of Jesus,” 67.

18 Jean Vanier, “The Fragility of L'Arche and the Friendship of God,” in Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness, Resources for Reconciliation, eds. Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 21–41, esp. 34–35.

19 Vanier, “The Vision of Jesus,” 74.

20 Vanier, “The Fragility of L'Arche and the Friendship of God,” 30.

21 Jean Vanier, Becoming Human (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2008), 40–41

22 Kevin S. Reimer, Living L'Arche: Stories of Compassion, Love, and Disability (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009), 4, 22–24.

23 Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion, 14.

24 Vanier, The Heart of L'Arche, 24.

25 Vanier, Becoming Human, 84.

26 Vanier, The Heart of L'Arche, 31.

27 Vanier, “The Fragility of L'Arche and the Friendship of God,” 30.

28 Vanier, The Heart of L'Arche, 27–28.

29 Spink, Jean Vanier and L'Arche, 42.

30 Michael W. Higgins, Jean Vanier: Logician of the Heart (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2016), 34.

31 Vanier, Becoming Human, 45.

32 Vanier, Becoming Human, 27–28.

33 Vanier, The Heart of L'Arche, 35.

34 Vanier, The Heart of L'Arche, 35–36.

35 Stanley Hauerwas, “Finding God in Strange Places: Why L'Arche Needs the Church,” in Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness, Resources for Reconciliation, eds. Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 43–58, esp. 47.

36 Kevin S. Reimer, “Road to Guadalupe: Hope and Moral Identity in L'Arche Communities for the Developmentally Disabled,” Christian Scholar's Review 38, no. 3 (2009): 359–73, esp. 361.

37 Henri J. M. Nouwen, Adam: God's Beloved (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997), 40–52.

38 John Swinton, Becoming Friends of Time: Disability, Timefulness, and Gentle Discipleship (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016), 99; italics in the original.

39 Karl Rahner, “Reflections on the Unity of the Love of Neighbour and the Love of God,” Theological Investigations, trans. Karl-H. and Boniface Kruger, vol. 6 (Baltimore, MD: Helicon Press, 1969), 231–49, esp. 234–35.

40 In addition to Rahner's own texts, a reader can also find an overview of Rahner's argument in Shannon Craigo-Snell, Silence, Love, and Death: Saying “Yes” to God in the Theology of Karl Rahner (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 2008), 82–96.

41 Brian Linnane, “Ethics,” The Cambridge Companion to Karl Rahner, eds. Declan Marmion and Mary E. Hines (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 158–73, esp. 160; italics in the original.

42 Karl Rahner, “Experience of Self and Experience of God,” in Theological Investigations, trans. David Bourke, vol. 13 (New York: Seabury Press, 1975), 122–32, esp. 128–29.

43 For an overview and response to these arguments, see Gerald J. Beyer, “Karl Rahner on the Radical Unity of the Love of God and Neighbour,” Irish Theological Quarterly 68, no. 3 (2003): 251–80.

44 Rahner, “Reflections on the Unity of the Love of Neighbour and the Love of God,” 244.

45 Beyer, “Karl Rahner on the Radical Unity of the Love of God and Neighbour,” 259.

46 Rahner, “Reflections on the Unity of the Love of Neighbour and the Love of God,” 241.

47 Rahner, “Reflections on the Unity of the Love of Neighbour and the Love of God,” 246; italics in the original.

48 Rahner, “Experience of Self and Experience of God,” 127.

49 Rahner, “Reflections on the Unity of the Love of Neighbour and the Love of God,” 247.

50 Rahner, Karl, The Love of Jesus and the Love of Neighbor, trans. Barr, Robert (New York: Crossroad, 1983), 99–100Google Scholar.

51 Rahner, The Love of Jesus and the Love of Neighbor, 85.

52 Craigo-Snell, Silence, Love, and Death, 77.

53 Reinders, Hans S., Receiving the Gift of Friendship: Profound Disability, Theological Anthropology, and Ethics (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 118Google Scholar.

54 Reinders, Receiving the Gift of Friendship, 93–94.

55 Comensoli, Peter A., In God's Image: Recognizing the Profoundly Impaired as Persons, ed. Zimmermann, Nigel (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2018), 177Google Scholar.

56 Berkman, John, “Are Persons with Profound Intellectual Disabilities Sacramental Icons of Heavenly Life? Aquinas on Impairment,” Studies in Christian Ethics 26, no. 1 (2013): 83–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 95.

57 Romero, Miguel J., “The Happiness of ‘Those Who Lack the Use of Reason,’” The Thomist: A Speculative Quarterly Review 80, no. 1 (2016): 49–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar, esp. 63–64; italics in the original.

58 Romero, “The Happiness of ‘Those Who Lack the Use of Reason,’” 65.

59 Romero, “The Happiness of ‘Those Who Lack the Use of Reason,’” 95–96; italics in the original.

60 Reynolds, Vulnerable Communion, 16–17.

61 “Message of John Paul II on the Occasion of the International Symposium on the Dignity and Rights of the Mentally Disabled Person,” January 5, 2004, https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2004/january/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20040108_handicap-mentale.html.

62 For a fascinating exploration of Vanier's relationship to Pope John Paul II, see Higgins, Jean Vanier, 54–67.

63 Inés San Martín, “On Day of the Disabled, Pope Calls for ‘Full Integration’ in Society,” Crux, December 3, 2019, https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/12/on-day-of-the-disabled-pope-calls-for-full-integration-in-society/.