“Brother Roger” (Roger Schütz) was a Swiss Reformed Christian with Huguenot, Calvinist roots. He was driven by a deep desire to foster reconciliation among Christian traditions. In 1940, Brother Roger founded a monastery near the village of Taizé and welcomed Protestants and Roman Catholics as equal members. During World War II, Brother Roger sheltered Jewish and Christian refugees from the Nazi Gestapo. Throughout his life, Brother Roger kept a low profile and rarely gave interviews, but by the 1950’s, his international reputation grew among Protestants and Roman Catholics and he fostered respect and admiration from such figures as Pope John XXIII and Mother Teresa. Despite claiming to have never broken his ties with his Protestant roots (a claim substantiated by his successors at Taize), Brother Roger regularly received the Eucharist in both Protestant and Roman Catholic services, including directly from Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. In 2005, at age 90, Brother Roger was stabbed to death by a mentally ill pilgrim, during a Taizé prayer service. His legacy continues in the Taizé community today.
O God, your blessed Son became poor for our sake, and chose the Cross over the kingdoms of this world: Deliver us from an inordinate love of worldly things, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Roger Schutz, may seek you with singleness of heart, behold your glory by faith, and attain to the riches of your everlasting kingdom, where we shall be united with our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. //
Art & bio by Ben Lansing
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