In 1964 a retired Canadian Navy, Jean Vanier, bought a small house in the village of Trosly-Breuil just north of Paris and invited three mentally handicapped men to share it with him.

This was the beginning of l’Arche, a special form of community where people who are rejected and despised by this world can develop their potential to the full and make their particular contribution to the lives of others. Since then, there are now over 100 l’Arche houses all over the world.

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