In 927 a Benedictine monk named Odo was appointed abbot of Cluny, a recently founded abbey in Burgundy, France. He refused to take the appointment. Threatened with excommunication, he accepted the role. His tenure as abbot led to some of the most significant reforms in Western monasticism.
The Cluniac movement became one of the largest religious forces in Europe, ensuring a more observant monastic life, revitalising the liturgy, and playing a significant role in the Peace and Truce of God movement, which sought to bring peace to a warring Europe. It became one of the most important peace movements in history.
Almost exactly 1,000 years after Odo of Cluny’s death, Swiss-born Protestant Roger Schütz cycled from Geneva to Taizé, a small, isolated village a few miles from Cluny. Situated just to the south of occupied France during World War II, Schütz was able to purchase a house for very little and which became a sanctuary for those fleeing Nazi persecution. Due to these activities, he was eventually forced to flee France himself but returned after the war with a few other Swiss men to establish a monastic way of life based on simplicity, celibacy and community.
In 1969, the first Catholic joined the community, a Belgian doctor. This led to a rare and significant occurrence. The brothers desired to receive the same Eucharist, sharing from the same table, and they sought a way to do this. With the permission and support of the local Catholic bishop, they began to receive the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation and the Eucharist without renouncing their Reformed backgrounds. Thus, Taizé became a symbol of lived ecumenism throughout the Christian world, of which Pope Saint John XXIII famously remarked: "Ah, Taizé, that little springtime."
Roger Schütz, who had become Brother Roger, was tragically killed at the age of 90 in a knife attack. Following his death, in 2005, Brother Alois, a German Catholic, became prior of the community. After almost 20 years of leading the community, Brother Alois appointed Brother Matthew as his successor. Brother Matthew, an Englishman and an Anglican who had been a member of the community since 1986, took over as prior of the more than 80 Taizé brothers at the end of last year.
Brother Matthew kindly agreed to speak with the <em>Herald</em> about community life, the role of the prior, and his vision for the Church.
<strong><em>CH</em>: How did you come to be a Taizé brother?</strong>
<em>BM</em>: In the first summer holiday of university, some friends suggested we go to Taizé. I was bitten fairly quickly, and I came back the following Easter, and spent six weeks here as a volunteer. And that was when I made a decision to take a year free from my studies, and I came back again. I entered the community in November 1986 and made my life commitment in 1989.
<strong>As the third Prior of Taizé who has served under the leadership of the previous two priors, could you tell us a bit about what Brother Roger and Brother Alois brought to the community and what you hope to bring during your priorship?</strong>
Brother Roger was the founder of the community. It was his vision that defined the vocation of the community. His greatest desire was for peace in the human family.
When he began the community, it was the Second World War, and he always used to speak about his grandmother, who lived during the First World War. She was of Reformed background, but she lived in France, and she used to go and pray in the Catholic Church. She saw a lot of suffering, and she used to say: “If only the Christians could show that they're reconciled. They speak of a God of love, but they don't love each other. If they could show that, then perhaps there's a bigger chance for peace in the human family and more people would believe in the gospel.”
That was very much his initial inspiration, as if God was speaking to him through his grandmother, and those were the initial years of the community. First of all, he was alone and offering help to those people who needed it during the war. And then the first brothers came. They were from different denominations within the Protestant world. And then the youth meetings started in the 1960s. Nobody really knows why, but it was a time when many young people were searching, trying to discover meaning in their life; and to have a Christian community that welcomed them without demanding too many things but was willing to listen to them, that had a big impact. That was the founding vision from Brother Roger.
And I think for Brother Alois, what was important was continuing the vision of Brother Roger. That was a question for many people – how Taizé could carry on Brother Roger’s vision without him. But once this had been achieved, Brother Alois led the community towards a sense of co-responsibility amongst the brothers. He set up groups within the community to reflect on certain themes, to make the decision-making process less vertical.
A very important part of his time as prior was the decision to go public on the accusations of abuse that had been made against several brothers, and that was a turning-point in the life of the community. To acknowledge that this had happened and to listen to the survivors, and to ensure that Taizé becomes a safer place for everybody through safeguarding training for our volunteers and the brothers, and to have a clear policy for dealing with abuse.
When Brother Alois presented me as the next prior of the community, I told the brothers that, for me, the most important thing was being present for them. During the first year I promised not to travel with the exception of visiting Ukraine to be with the young people we know there for a short period, and to make the annual visit to Rome to meet with the Holy Father and different dicasteries.
We need to take care of our community life and move more towards co-responsibility, which began during the time of Brother Alois. But above all, we need to ask ourselves the question, “What is the Spirit saying to us today?” As we learn in the Synodal Path, the Holy Spirit is always the protagonist.
<strong>Taizé has been and is still very popular amongst Germans. Do you think this is in part due to Brother Alois being German?</strong>
For a long time, and during the time of Brother Roger, the Germans were already the most numerous pilgrims who came to stay for a week.
One factor is that the Christian faith in Germany is still very much in the marketplace, so to speak. In France, there's a very strong separation between state and church. It's not the same in Germany. And so it's relatively easy for schools, even state schools, to come.
I think another significant factor is a yearning for reconciliation that came after the Second World War. I don't think it is particularly linked with the fact that Brother Alois is German that there are so many Germans coming. It goes back before his time.
<strong>CH: As the third prior of Taizé, but also as one who hails from Britain, do you hope to foster and increase the number of young people coming from Britain?</strong>
Since Brexit, there's been a drop in the numbers of people coming from Britain, and this was further exacerbated by the pandemic. But there are still dioceses, schools and universities that bring groups, and this summer, numbers picked up again. That was a great joy for the community. And we have a lot of contact with Anglican bishops, and some Catholic dioceses, particularly Northampton and Portsmouth.
But in terms of increasing numbers, we have never tried to have a great advertising campaign or draw people in – we are just happy to welcome those who want to come.
In the Catholic dioceses of the UK, there is a great tradition of going to Lourdes, and we are on the way to Lourdes. Perhaps, if some would like to stop off, even for a day, we would be delighted to welcome them. And they could understand a little bit more about Taizé. It's more than singing "<em>Laudate Omnes Gentes</em>" three times!
<strong>You have always had a great appeal amongst young people, and traditional forms of the liturgy seem to be increasingly popular among young Catholics. Do you think the Taizé tradition is speaking to the same desire for reverent liturgy?</strong>
I don't think we have changed anything fundamental in our form of worship in the last 50 years. I remember the first time I entered the Church of Reconciliation, I was immediately drawn into the worship; there was nobody there explaining what you had to do, but you felt welcomed in this community of prayer. And there was a feeling immediately of something authentic.
You were alone, but you were together with others. You were before God, but you were with yourself. And I think young people today seek a sense of mystery.
But I think, as well, people seek traditional forms of worship in times of instability. I have read that in France, there are young people who practise a sort of “tradismatic” faith. Young people who would go on the pilgrimage to Chartres, known for its traditionalist approach, and also attend the meetings held by the Emmanuel Community, who are associated with the charismatic renewal. In many ways, what young people are searching for today is a lived experience, and that can be very difficult in a regular parish.
In Taizé, the challenge has always been to help people connect with their local churches. We have always tried to avoid creating a movement around the community, but rather have sought to encourage people to go back to the church nearest to them and play an active role there.
<strong>What is the sacramental life of the Brothers at Taizé?</strong>
As a community, we receive the Catholic sacrament of the Eucharist, as agreed with the local bishop. We have faith in Christ, who is present in the Eucharist, who gives himself to us, and whom we receive. I think for us, this sharing of the same table is something very important. And it's a great privilege. But we live something which is like an anticipation of what could come. The solution is a full communion for everybody – that is clear.
For the sacrament of reconciliation, we have an established relationship with priests outside the community who hear our confessions. We do not go to brothers within the community who are also priests.
We believe in the ministry of Peter, as the universal pastor. It doesn't mean that there's an acceptance of everything as it is now, with regards to the Pope, but there is this understanding that there's a need for a universal pastor within the Christian family, within the Church, and that it's the Bishop of Rome who traditionally has held that role.
<strong>What is your ecumenical vision for the Church?</strong>
For me, it's the challenge every day to believe in the prayer of Jesus in John: 17, that those who follow him may be one like Him and the Father are one. There's a unity among those who believe in Christ that is already given, and the challenge is to discover that.
One of my great hopes for the Synod on Synodality is acknowledging and discovering that the diversity within the Roman Catholic Church can be a step forward on the path towards unity.
If you look at Pope Francis’s meditation for the ecumenical prayer that we led on the 11 October for the Synod participants in Rome, he quotes one of his past speeches and says that the ecumenical journey is necessarily synodal, and synodality is necessarily ecumenical because they both involve listening to each other.
The two are very intimately linked. And so I think that's my great hope – that as we learn to listen to each other more, and as we learn to acknowledge and appreciate the gifts that exist, both within our own traditions and outside them, we move closer to each other in Christ.
<strong>And finally, what are the big events Taizé is involved with over the coming months?</strong>
There is the 47th European Youth Meeting that will take place from 28 December 2024 to 1 January 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia. It will be a time to pray for peace on our continent and in our world, and to give a sign of an open and welcoming society that so many young people yearn for.
But the brothers welcome pilgrims throughout most of the year, to take part in our life of prayer, simplicity and community, so come and visit us!
<em>Photo: Brother Matthew at Taizé (©Tamino Petelinsek/courtesy Taizé Community).</em>
