The beginning
The Community was born around a pizza shared by Gérard and Jo Croissant, and Mireille and Jean-Marc Hammel, on May 25, 1973. After an experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the two young couples asked themselves: “What if we lived in community? Following the example of the first Christian communities, they decided to live together, putting everything in common.
They were inspired by Lanza del Vasto, founder of the Arche community where Gérard and Jo met, by pastors Louis Dallière and Thomas Roberts, and by Marthe Robin, founder of the Foyers de Charité.
“All believers lived together, and had everything in common; they sold their goods and possessions, and shared the proceeds among all according to each one’s needs. Every day, with one heart, […] they broke bread in the houses, they ate their meals with gladness and simplicity of heart.”
Acts of the Apostles 2: 44-46
APOSTOLIC AND MISSIONARY OVERFLOW
From 1973 to 1981, the Community was essentially “contemplative”. Community members rarely went “outside the walls”. They were missionaries through prayer, welcoming people from all walks of life attracted by the beauty of the liturgy and the spirituality of the Community. Giving first place to hospitality and almsgiving, they also welcome the poor, the marginalized and those wounded by life.
This initial “contemplative” phase was followed by the apostolic and missionary deployment of the Community. This momentum led to rapid growth throughout the world.
“Console, console my people!”
Isaiah 40:1
“Whom shall I send?”
Isaiah 6:8
Growth crisis
After this phase of rapid expansion, in the 2000s the Community entered a growth crisis. Structural dysfunctions in the way it is governed, the embodiment of community life and the identity of each state of life force it to undergo profound reforms. At the same time, it was shaken by the revelation of sexual abuse committed by three of its members. A long process of restructuring began.
“Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus!”
Apocalypse 22:20
Towards the “Ecclesial Family of Consecrated Life
This process culminated in June 2011, when Archbishop Le Gall of Toulouse established the Community as a “public association of the faithful under diocesan law, with a view to becoming an ecclesial family of consecrated life”.
This new institutional stage profoundly altered the governance of the Community, and enabled the particularities of each state of life to be honored. Three branches have been created: consecrated brothers, consecrated sisters and lay people. Each branch has a leader who has authority over the life of the branch and the care of its members. These three branches are united into a single community, governed by a president. In this way, the Ecclesiastical Family gives way to a collegial mode of government in which the consent of the different states of life is required.
Then, on November 12, 2020, the Roman dicastery for institutes of consecrated life granted Mgr Le Gall the power to erect the Community of the Beatitudes as an “ecclesial family of consecrated life” of diocesan right. The erection took place on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.
