Frère Roger (Roger Schultz) in Taizé (Saône-et-Loire (71))

Frère Roger (1915-2005), Roger Schultz by his full name, was born in Switzerland. In 1940, when he was 25, he decided to go to occupied France: from Geneva on a bicycle. He was warmly welcomed in tiny Taizé, where he stayed. At the beginning of the war, he welcomed dozens of Jews with his sister Geneviève. Returning to Switzerland in 1942, he learned that he had been denounced: return to Taizé wasn't possible. On Liberation in 1944 he returned and helped German POWs. Over the years he developed a community in Taizé, vowed to a life of chastity. Originally Protestant but increasingly turning towards Catholicism, Frère Roger is buried in the Église Saint-Marie-Madeleine in Taizé, along with other members of the church.