The “Madeleine Delbrêl Year” was launched in recent days, in preparation for the first centenary of the birth (at Mussidan in the Dordogne on 24 October 2004) of the great witness of faith, mystic, poetess and friend of the poor. Promoted by the “Association of the friends of Madeleine Delbrêl” and by the members of the “Equipes” named after her, the “Year” will be characterised by publications and events aimed at bringing this significant figure of the 20th century to the knowledge of a wider public. “Madeleine understood right from the start that God loves the world today, which is neither better nor worse than that of other periods”, declared Bishop Daniel Labille of Créteil in a communiqué issued to launch the “Madeleine Delbrêl Year”. “The affection she showed for each and every person continued Msgr. Labille prevents us from despairing. It’s futile to focus on people’s ideas or way of living and acting. What matters is placing each person in contact with the source that gives life and that can restore energy to the parts of oneself that seem dead. Social worker, artist and poetess honoured by the Académie Française, the atheist Madeleine Delbrêl spent her youth in Paris where, at the age of twenty, she discovered, in her own words, “the power of the Gospel” and decided to live with some “girl companions” shoulder to shoulder with the poor. In 1933 she moved to Ivry: her house in the working-class district has become a place of hospitality and brotherhood. She died in 1964.
