Brother Roger of Taizé for over 50 years, was a leading figure in the ecumenical movement. He lived Christian unity!

Baptized Roger Louis Schütz-Marsauche, he was 9th and youngest child of a Protestant minister. He studied theology at Strasbourg and Lausanne. His ecumenical mission was inspired by his grandmother. A Swiss Protestant, during World War I, she was heartbroken to see Christians killing Christians. Afterwards, while still Protestant, she began praying in the local Catholic church, a silent, powerful gesture of unity.

In 1940, as WWII began, Brother Roger moved to the tiny village of Taizé in France’s Burgundy region. He sheltered political refugees, especially Jews, and began to develop the idea of an ecumenical community where Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestants would live together under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Brother Roger’s vision took form on Easter Sunday, 1949, when the 1st brothers, took their vows. Today they have about 100 members from various Christian backgrounds and nations.

A work of reconciliation grew, especially among the young. A large annual gathering of the Taizé community is held in a different European city each year, part of a “pilgrimage of trust on earth”. Brother Roger wrote a message each year for these large gatherings, translated into multiple languages. He maintained an emphasis on engaging with the suffering. It took him to places where poverty was endemic. His intention was to be with people, if he was not allowed to speak publicly, then, as he said, “I will be silent with you.” He didn't like formal preaching anyway, prefering to keep a low profile, refusing efforts to make him the centre of attention.

Taizé soon became a living testament to reconciliation, a place of pilgrimage, people come and share the life of the community for a week; then return to their own community and seek to live out the insights and deeper spiritual awareness they have gained. A key feature is Taizé worship music. Brother Roger was a classically trained musician and understood the power of music to shape religious experience. He introduced meditative and reflective chants now associated with Taizé worship, and had an impact on contemporary spirituality.

Brother Roger was Prior of the community, even when age and ill-health meant he often had to use a wheelchair. He wrote extensively on issues of spirituality and justice and was awarded the UNESCO prize for peace education in 1988. He was stabbed to death by a mentally disturbed woman during the evening service at Taizé. In a highly unusual move, his funeral was presided over by Catholic cardinal, Walter Kasper, the president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who celebrated the Mass together with 4 priest-brothers of Taizé.

Many of our normal prayers for today will be replaced by those written by Brother Roger.

BORN: 1915, Provence, Switzerland

DIED:16 August 2005, Taizé, France.