Founder of the Taize Christian Community in France. Considered by some as one of the most authoritative members of the Christian religious community, he was born Roger Schutz-Marsauche in Provence, in the Swiss canton of Vaud, to a French mother and a parson in the Swiss Reformed Church. From 1937 to 1940 he studied reformed theology in Lausanne, Switzerland, and in Strassburg, France. In 1940 he moved to Taize, France so that he could help Jewish refugees cross the border from Nazi occupied France to unoccupied regions. Forced by the Nazis to flee in 1942 he returned in 1944 and subsequently founded the protestant Taize Christian Community there where he espoused reconciliation of the various Christian churches. He appealed to younger Christians because of his aversion to formal preaching while encouraging a spiritual quest. the Taize Christian Community he founded draws tens of thousands of Christian youths from around the world each year for prayer and meditation; during a 1995 Taize gathering in Paris he drew an audience exceeding 100,000. Awarded the UNESCO prize for peace education in 1988; other awards include Templeton Prize (1974), Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1974), Honorary doctorate of the University of Warsaw (1986), Karlspreis of the City of Aachen (1989), Germany's Robert Schuman Prize (1992), and France's Notre Dame Award (1996).
Founder of the Taize Christian Community in France. Considered by some as one of the most authoritative members of the Christian religious community, he was born Roger Schutz-Marsauche in Provence, in the Swiss canton of Vaud, to a French mother and a parson in the Swiss Reformed Church. From 1937 to 1940 he studied reformed theology in Lausanne, Switzerland, and in Strassburg, France. In 1940 he moved to Taize, France so that he could help Jewish refugees cross the border from Nazi occupied France to unoccupied regions. Forced by the Nazis to flee in 1942 he returned in 1944 and subsequently founded the protestant Taize Christian Community there where he espoused reconciliation of the various Christian churches. He appealed to younger Christians because of his aversion to formal preaching while encouraging a spiritual quest. the Taize Christian Community he founded draws tens of thousands of Christian youths from around the world each year for prayer and meditation; during a 1995 Taize gathering in Paris he drew an audience exceeding 100,000. Awarded the UNESCO prize for peace education in 1988; other awards include Templeton Prize (1974), Peace Prize of the German Book Trade (1974), Honorary doctorate of the University of Warsaw (1986), Karlspreis of the City of Aachen (1989), Germany's Robert Schuman Prize (1992), and France's Notre Dame Award (1996).
Bio by: Fred Beisser
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