To me, he belongs to a category of Mahatma, of great souls—he is the Mother Teresa of our time. I wanted to make his portrait in order to convey the deep thought that animates him, his philosophy of life, the mystery within each person that he has known how to reveal. It is rare to meet someone with such a hunger for justice. What was originally planned as a simple television documentary became something more when he himself pushed me to go further, to unveil the universal love he has poured out at the Ark." These words come from Frederique Bedos, director of Jean Vanier, the Sacrament of Tenderness, a film that premiered on French screens in January and guides us through the life of Vanier and the Ark, woven together along a single path that crosses time and space. Through time, we trace the journey of a great man from his childhood in Canada to the Templeton Prize in 2015. Through space, we visit three communities: Trosly-Breuil, the first; Bethlehem, at the heart of the Middle Eastern conflict; and Calcutta, marked by its interfaith character.
Vanier discovered beauty in people with disabilities—he listens to their cries and welcomes them. The film gives voice to parents wounded by the exclusion of their children, even by the Church. It expresses the hunger these men and women feel for relationship and friendship, revealing their profound humanity. As we visit the Ark communities shown in the film, we grasp the universal dimension of Vanier's message: that tenderness is a feeling of immense and lasting fruitfulness. We understand how living it alongside the most fragile becomes a force for peace, when bonds of trust soothe the wounds of life.
"In the film," Bedos continues, "the authenticity of people with disabilities cuts through the screen. They are not masks. By a mirror effect, they make us aware of our own masks—products of our vulnerability and fear of being exposed. And fear is the worst prison."