by Ken Henke, Princeton Theological Seminary
On Tuesday, August 23, funeral services will be held for Brother Roger of Taizé. At the age of 90, he was attacked with a knife by a woman, most probably mentally disturbed, in the midst of community prayer in the Church of Reconciliation at Taizé, France. He died shortly afterward.
The son of a Swiss Reformed pastor, at age 25 he left his native Switzerland and came bicycling into the tiny, poor hamlet of Taizé in France, seeking a place where he could quietly devote himself to a life of prayer and contemplation. A peasant woman, keeper of the keys to the run-down house and property which Roger Schutz had come to look at, begged him to buy the house and stay. Later on, when asked, “Why Taizé?” Roger Schutz was to say: “I chose Taizé because the woman was poor. Christ speaks through the poor, and it’s good to listen to them. Anyone who begins with the poorest of the poor is not likely to go wrong.” Continue reading “A Tribute to Brother Roger of Taizé”