Jean Vanier’s Biographer Reacts to News of Abusive Behavior

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: The women each report that Jean Vanier initiated sexual relationships with them, usually in the context of spiritual accompaniment. The relationships were found to be manipulative and emotionally abusive and had a significant negative impact on their personal lives and subsequent relationships. And of course, one of the alleged victims has said that Vanier justified the abuse in this way, you are chosen, you are special, this is secret, it is Jesus who loves you through me. I mean, this is just the — you know, the wording of a charlatan who’s trying to impress and, you know, exert themselves onto impressionable women of faith, and I wonder what you think. You were also a teacher at the Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. I wonder what you — you must have come across that kind of, I guess, excuses, that kind of sort of methodology in what other areas that you’ve studied. I mean, the use of, hey, you’re doing it because I’m Christ?

MICHAEL HIGGINS, AUTHOR, “JEAN VANIER, LOGICIAN OF THE HEART”: Yes. The — I wrote an earlier work called “Suffer the Children Unto Me: An Open Inquiry Into the Clerical Sexual Abuse Crisis.” And during the research phase and writing of it actually, that this was not uncommon to come across this kind of specious explanations that somehow or other this was a bonding with Jesus, this was a level of intimacy that was sacred as well as erotic, that this was an important thing and that perhaps it was God’s will. And that most importantly, secrecy needed to be maintained because it was an incredibly intimate thing between one individual and the other. Now, you know, this — the profile were predation, whether it’s in the more extreme clinical case of pedophilia or hebephilia or in the case of men who prey on women, vulnerable women, is alarming in that there are many parallels, of course. But there are many distinctions as well. My sense is — and this is not in any way to excuse Jean Vanier’s behavior — it’s deplorable. But, for me, what’s particularly disturbing is the invocation of any spiritualness or sacral component to this. I find that very objectionable. It’s nothing to do with Jesus and nothing to do with Mary. But it very — but, when you look at it in terms of his understanding of human fragility and woundedness and his need for intimacy itself, you can see that the trajectory is going to take you into an into very difficult territory. And that threshold, where you move from spiritual accompaniment to engaging in a deeper and even erotic intimacy is very easy to cross over.

AMANPOUR: Or — yes.

HIGGINS: That’s why you have so many areas of protection around this, or should have.