It was a powerful story that inspired a movement: Jean Vanier heard a call—from Jesus and people suffering in mental institutions—and decided to invite some men with intellectual disabilities to live with him. The only problem? It wasn’t true.

In this episode, we examine the origin stories of L’Arche: the one Vanier told for decades and the stranger, more devastating story revealed in a recent 900-page report. Host Jenna Barnett talks with L’Arche USA leader Tina Bovermann about why it took the organization so long to identify Vanier’s abuse and how they’re now trying to untangle L’Arche's mission from Vanier's lies.

You’ll also hear from Carolyn Whitney-Brown, an author who spent a decade of her life interviewing L'Arche leaders whose stories rarely get the spotlight.

Listen and subscribe today on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Credits: Lead Us Not was produced, written, and edited by me, Jenna Barnett, with executive production, story editing, and additional reporting by Betsy Shirley. Sound design and mixing and additional story editing by JP Keenan, factchecking and additional reporting by Mitchell Atencio. Tiarra Lucas designed our podcast cover. Our theme music is by Borrtex and by Yehezkel Raz 

You can learn more about the podcast, sign up for email updates and bonus information about each episode, and get a transcript of each episode at sojo.net/podcast.

Follow Sojourners on Facebook (@SojournersMagazine), Twitter (@sojourners), and Instagram (@sojogram), and share your thoughts about the podcast with #LeadUsNot or by emailing response@sojo.net.

Sojourners magazine is an independent, award-winning magazine of faith, culture, and politics. Our mission is to inspire hope and action by articulating the biblical call to racial and social justice, life and peace, and environmental stewardship.

Origin Stories

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