A documentary about the life of professor and author Father Henri Nouwen will be shown June 27 at the Bethel University seminary chapel in St. Paul.
The film “Journey of the Heart: The Life of Henri Nouwen” will be presented by its producer and director Karen Pascal, executive director of the St. Louis-based Henri Nouwen Society.
Born in Holland in 1932, Father Nouwen was ordained in 1957 for the diocesan priesthood. After studying psychology, he taught in the United States at the University of Notre Dame and Harvard and Yale divinity schools. In the 1970s, he spent several months with Trappist monks at the Abbey of the Genesee in upstate New York before moving to Peru to live among the poor.
In 1985, Father Nouwen moved to France to join L’Arche, a community that serves people with developmental disabilities, and moved to a L’Arche community in Toronto in 1986. He died 10 years later and is bu ried in the Toronto area. A public speaker and author, Father Nouwen wrote more than 40 books about the spiritual life.
The hour-long “Journey of the Heart” was released in 2004. It is narrated by actress Susan Sarandon.
The 6-8 p.m. screening is free and open to the public. The Bethel seminary chapel is located at 3949 Bethel Drive. Refreshments and dessert will follow the film and Q-and-A with Pascal.
