The founder of L’Arche, a global network of more than one hundred communities for people with intellectual disabilities in some thirty countries, Jean Vanier also co-founded (with Marie-Hélène Mathieu) Faith and Light, an international ecumenical movement that brings persons with learning disabilities, their families, and friends together on a regular basis for mutual support, celebration, and prayer. His work on behalf of human development and progress has been widely recognized, notably, with the Paul VI Prize in 1997. Dr. Vanier was born in Geneva, Switzerland, where his father, the future Governor General of Canada, was on a diplomatic assignment. He was graduated from the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth and served, as a young naval officer, first, on the British battleship HMS Vanguard and, then, on the Canadian aircraft carrier, HMCS Magnificent. He resigned his commission in 1950 to pursue doctoral studies at L’Institut Catholique de Paris where he received a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1962. Dr. Vanier then taught philosophy for a semester at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. It was in 1963, through his friendship with the Dominican priest, Thomas Philippe, that he became aware of the plight of people with learning disabilities who had been confined to institutions. In August 1964, he invited two of them to live with him in an old house, which he bought and renovated, in the French village of Trosly-Breuil. Four years later, he was invited to give a retreat to priests and lay people in Canada, which developed later into Faith and Sharing, a movement of now annual retreats in several countries. Faith and Light was established in 1971, after an international pilgrimage to Lourdes. There are now more than a thousand groups that meet under its auspices throughout the world. In addition to the papal prize awarded him by John Paul II, Dr. Vanier was elected a Companion of the Order of Canada and an Officier de la Légion d’Honneur. He is also the recipient of the Community of Christ International Peace Award, the Rabbi Gunther Plaut Humanitarian Award, the Knights of Columbus Gaudium et Spes (Joy and Hope) Award, and, just last fall, Britain’s Beacon Prize for the creation of his pioneering model of care and assistance for people with learning disabilities. In addition to lecturing throughout the world, Dr. Vanier is a prolific writer and among his more than forty books is the internationally acclaimed Becoming Human (1998, 1999, and 2005), an account of what he describes as the difficult but essential life undertaking that involves a growth to freedom and the discovery of what we share most deeply with all people. Other recent works include Seeing Beyond Depression (2001 and 2005), Scandal of Service (2003), Our Journey Home (2003), Finding Peace (2003 and 2006), Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John (2004), and Befriending the Stranger (2005). Dr. Vanier has stepped down from responsibility in L’Arche, but he continues to visit and support communities, give retreats, and to make his home in the original community in Trosly-Breuil.