Schutz, Roger (Brother Roger) (1915-2005)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Aug 29 p. 3

Birth date: 1915

text of obituary:

Taize group founder stabbed to death

By Religion News Service

Brother Roger, the 90-year old leader of the Taize community that fostered relations among Christians, was stabbed to death by a woman during a prayer service Aug. 16 at the community he founded in eastern France.

Authorities said a 36-year-old Romanian woman stood up during the service attended by about 2,500 peo9ple and stabbed Brother roger in the throat three times. He died immediately.

Worshipers overpowered the woman, and she was detained.

The leader of the Church of England, Archbishop Rowan Williams, described Brother Roger as "one of the best-loved Christian leaders of our time."

Brother Roger, a Swiss Protestant, founded Taize in 1940 in a remote village in the hills of southern Burgundy. Today the community numbers about 100 Catholics and Protestants. In the 1950s, Taize became a place of pilgrimage for young people from all over the world.

Chants the community developed for its worship ware widely used by churches of all denominations. (Hymnal: A Worship Book, the Mennonite Church USA hymnal, includes 14 Taize hymns: 101, 103, 113, 152, 204, 242, 247, 294, 298, 348, 452, 471, 554 and 562.

"Short chants, repeated over and over, emphasize the meditative quality of prayer," Brother roger wrote. "They express in a few words a basic truth which is quickly grasped by the mind and gradually penetrates into one's whole being."

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Aug 29 p. 6