Part 5   The exchange of reflective letters continues between The Globe and Mail writer Ian Brown and Jean Vanier . In tooday`s exchange between Toronto and Trosly-Breuil, France, they discuss the ravages of age - and what happens afterward.

On War and 'Human Smoke'. If pacifism is traitorous, what hope is there for peace? Is any war a just war? The exchange of reflective letters continues between Globe and Mail writer Ian Brown and Jean Vanier

After Morgentaler, Jean Vanier kept his Order of Canada. Why?

Globe and Mail, November 29, 2008

“We are not in a situation where we must choose between abortion and its rejection, between pro-life and pro-choice positions,” says Jean Vanier. Human frailty, the complexity of our lives and the personal and sacred histories of each person must lead us beyond these misplaced debates. The real question, the only one that remains when the arguments of one “side” or the other are exhausted, is the following: How do we understand “life”; what is the meaning of “life”?

'Your questions come, I sense, from your loneliness'

Last year, Ian Brown shared with Globe readers his confusion and wonder as the father of a boy with extraordinary disabilities. He found some answers in the work of Jean Vanier, the founder of the L'Arche network of communities. This spring, the two met for the first time. Today, they renew their dialogue.

This is the first instalment in a continuing correspondence between Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche, a worldwide group of communities for the disabled, and Globe and Mail writer Ian Brown.

Doing the work of the heart

About to turn 80, the pioneer of care for the disabled opens a dialogue with The Globe's Ian Brown