Our Vision & Values
The Mission of Intercordia Canada
Intercordia Canada is a non-profit organization that partners with Canadian universities in order to offer students a unique, university accredited, engaged-learning experience. The goal of this innovative learning program is to encourage moral responsiveness, develop respect for diversity and a valuing of other cultures, religions and socio-economic backgrounds that will enable Canadian students to attain a well-educated solidarity with others who are different.
Founders Bio
Jean Vanier http://www.jean-vanier.org/info/en is a humanist, philosopher, theologian, man of letters and first and foremost described by his companions as a man with heart and a man of compassion. He is most widely known as the founder of L’ Arche, an international network of communities for people with development disabilities. Vanier founded Intercordia, with Gilles La Cardinale, in France in 2000, and the Canadian chapter was established in 2002.
Vanier has written many books, including Becoming Human, Finding Peace, Made for Happiness, Encountering the Other, and Befriending the Stranger.He is also the recipient of many international awards including Companion of the Order of Canada, Legion of Honour (France), Rabbi Gunther Plant Humanitarian Award, and was named one the Greatest Canadians by CBC, the Globe and Mail and McLeans magazine. Jean was the Massey lecturer in 1998.
After many years of travelling, giving lectures, retreats and public talks he has retired (in his early eighties) and he lives in the village of Trosly in a L’Arche home where he continues to write and give retreats.
Our Statement About Spirituality
Intercordia Canada believes that spirituality is an underlying foundation for the journey towards becoming fully human. Spirituality can guide how a person chooses to live in relation to others and the world around them as they search for, create and celebrate meaning in their lives.
A vibrant faith life is not closed in on itself, nor does it undertake to evangelize others in ways that are disrespectful. Since no single spirituality conveys the totality of the human experience, each person’s faith can be enriched through learning and dialogue across difference, and especially through interaction with those who suffer due to marginalization or oppression.
The distress in our world caused by unjust oppression, ethnic and religious hatred, poverty, environmental destruction and personal grief, offers an opportunity for each of us to seek greater understanding of the causes and meaning of suffering. A genuine spirituality thus not only addresses the quest for personal health and wholeness, but also seeks both redemptive meaning and a course of liberating action.
Listen to the powerful words of Intercordia’s founder, Jean Vanier.
Feeds