Marie-Hélène Mathieu

Mathieu was appointed by Pope John-Paul II to the Pontifical Council for the Laity (1984 – 1989) and as expert for the Holy See at the Council of Europe. She is the first woman to have given a Lent address at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (in 1988). Pope Benedict XVI appointed her auditor to the synod on the Eucharist (2005).

That same year, faced with the suffering of the parents of two children with serious disabilities who had felt marginalised at Lourdes, she launched a remarkable pilgrimage to Lourdes with Jean Vanier for people with mental disabilities and their families and friends. At Easter 1971, this pilgrimage gathered together 12,000 people from 15 countries, including 400 people with a mental disability. From this extraordinary gathering the international movement of Faith and Light was born, a movement which today numbers more than 1,508 communities in 80 countries.

In 1968, alongside the lectures and meetings, Marie-Hélène Mathieu created Ombres et Lumière (Shadows and Light), the OCH magazine aimed at people with disabilities, their families and friends.

In 1963 Mathieu founded the OCH. The association aims to support families, encourage a response to their distress and offer them new hope, particularly through the introduction of a permanent place of welcome and financial support for Christian associations and establishments.

In 1957, during a retreat at Chateauneuf de Galaure (in the Drôme region of France), where Father Finet was preaching, she met Marthe Robin, founder of the Foyers de Charité. Robin, who was paralysed and practically blind, was very close to children with disabilities and their families. She would become an advisor and friend to Mathieu, and her support was invaluable in the birth of the Office chrétien des personnes handicapées (OCH, "Christian Foundation for Disabled People").

In 1956, Mathieu was elected President of the French Christian Association of special needs teachers, for whom she founded the magazine Educateurs spécialisés ("Special Needs Teachers").

In the 1950s, Mathieu began studying to become an éducatrice spécialisée (special needs teacher) under Father Henri Bissonnier. He was one of the few priests to consider the question of religious education for young people suffering from a mental disability, and went so far as to develop a new catechism for them. At the end of her course, Father Henri asked her to work with him, a collaboration that would last for around twenty years.

Marie-Hélène Mathieu (born 4 July 1929) is a French disability rights activist. She is co-founder of the international movement Faith and Light; with Jean Vanier, she has dedicated her life’s work to people with disabilities and to their families and friends.