THIS is the third volume of Brother Roger’s journals (Books, 14 April 2022 and 21 July 2023). From the first beginnings of Taizé, during the Second World War, Brother Roger founded the community against a backdrop of the divisions of Europe and suspicion from both his family and the Reformed Church; and the Community in Burgundy experienced the poverty of the region. In the late 1960s, Taizé became a place of pilgrimage and prayer for youth, despite its alienation from the established Churches. Volume 3 now gives us a personal glimpse into Brother Roger’s and the Community’s spiritual journey from 1972 to 1976.
By this time, Taizé was well known internationally and ecumenically. Many friendships had been made with the Roman Catholic Church, while Brother Roger and Brother Max Thurian were Observers at the Second Vatican Council. Now he meets again Fr Pedro Arrupe, the Jesuit Superior General, as well as Dom Helder Camara and Pope Paul VI. The visit of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, to Taizé in 1973 is also noted.
Discussions and correspondence with young people are frequently referred to, and the dynamics of “struggle and contemplation” are explored. Brother Roger also echoes Dietrich Bonhoeffer on the loss of “moral memory” in Europe. And then there was the Council of Youth in 1974, the largest gathering yet at Taizé.
Brother Roger is the recipient of the Templeton Prize for Religion, the money of which was distributed to causes in Britain and Ireland related to the reconciliation of communities. He is against proselytism or the creation of new churches and suspicious of the Holy Office in the Vatican. Pondering on his ministry as Prior (not a term that he liked), he wrestles with the problem of the ego and self-fulfilment as he experiences the need for the “pastoral services of one person” in any community, noting that some leaders seek to dominate. He is moved by the presence of young Muslims at Taizé, and then visits Austria to talk to young people and for discussion with Cardinal König of Vienna, another hero of the Second Vatican Council. In Geneva, Brother Roger recalls fleeing from Taizé in 1945 after a Gestapo raid.
South America remains central to this period of Taizé’s life. Brother Roger visits Chile and is refused access to prisoners, because he declines to meet its dictator, Pinochet, who bans a “Committee for Peace”. Roger is much engaged with Cardinal Silva of Santiago and opposition to Pinochet. He pleads for the life of a young priest “resister” in Paraguay. Further visits to Finland, Rome, and Paris continue to be concerned with the marginalised and dispossessed, including Eastern Europe and the Lebanon. At this time, he is involved in a very large global correspondence.
In 1976, there are visits to Calcutta and Bangladesh, where he met and worked with Mother Teresa, who supplies a simple wooden tabernacle for the Reserved Sacrament in the home of the poor family who offer Taizé hospitality. Throughout his diaries, there are regular references to his deep sacramental life as central to Taizé spirituality and contemplation. Here, Brother Roger and Mother Teresa draft a letter with young people. It emphasises the importance of not trying to import Western solutions.
Pilgrims to Taizé from the UK will already highly value the spirituality of Taizé, its prayerful liturgy, and its sacramental life. But this volume illustrates that Taizé does not offer a pietistic escape from the world’s dark places. It indeed records “struggle” as well as “contemplation”.
The Rt Revd Christopher Hill is a former Bishop of Guildford.
Journals of Brother Roger of Taizé: Volume 3: 1972-1976
Brother Roger of Taizé
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