Like Mother Teresa, Abbé Pierre or Sister Emmanuelle, Brother Roger (Roger Schutz, 1915-2005) is one of those charismatic characters who have left their mark on people's minds and moved their consciences, religious or not.
His life was that of a border-crosser: Swiss, he settled in 1940 in battered France; Calvinist, at the age of twenty-five, he founded the first Protestant monastic community on French soil: Taizé, famous throughout the world; son of a pastor, pastor himself, he became "formally Catholic", to use Cardinal Kasper's expression.
His ideal: to help and gather. In France at war, he received political refugees and Jews; at the Liberation, he helped German prisoners of war and took in orphans; in the 1950s and 1960s, he was at the forefront of the ecumenical movement; in 1966, sensing a wave of radical protest among young people, he invented the "Youth Council" and then the "European Rallies", which took place at the end of each year in a major European city.
This exceptional, secret, complex and sometimes contradictory character was a living legend. A historical biography was missing that traces his itinerary, sheds light on the grey areas - and places the stages of his life in their historical context. Yves Chiron has been able to explore many archives in France and Switzerland. He met and interviewed members of Brother Roger's family, Brothers or former Brothers in his community, and many witnesses to his life.
As the pages go by, the portrait of an elusive and unusual man is gradually revealed.
