Jean Vanier of L'Arche receives Knights' Gaudium et Spes Award

Published: 2005-05-16

MONTREAL (CNS) -- Jean Vanier, founder of the international L'Arche network of faith-based communities that care for people with developmental disabilities, is the 2005 recipient of the Knights of Columbus' Gaudium et Spes Award. The award, which comes with an honorarium of $100,000, is the highest honor bestowed by the Knights of Columbus. "Jean Vanier exemplifies the call to self-giving and Christ-centered community involvement that is such a central theme in 'Gaudium et Spes,'" the Second Vatican Council's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, said Carl A. Anderson, supreme knight, who presented the award in April in Montreal. "His entire life of service is an inspiration to all, and an eloquent witness to the Gospel of Christ," Anderson added. Vanier becomes the sixth person and the first layman to receive the award.

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