Biography

Of German origin, a French national since 1984, Brother Alois was born in Bavaria on June 11, 1954, and grew up in Stuttgart. His parents were born in the Sudetenland, then part of Czechoslovakia. He became a brother of the community in 1974.

As a young volunteer and then as a brother, he made numerous visits to Christians in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe under Communist rule. Later, he coordinated the organization of international meetings in Taizé and European meetings in several European cities. He devoted a great deal of time to listening to young people. As a musician, he composed a number of Taizé songs.

He was still very young when Brother Roger, with the agreement of the brothers, appointed him as his successor. He became prior after Brother Roger's violent death in 2005. From that moment on, he made it his business to ensure that the community would continue on its road without stopping, in continuity with its founder.

To go further on the journey towards Christian reconciliation, he established personal relationships with Popes Benedict XVI and Francis, Orthodox patriarchs (Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople visited Taizé in 2017), Archbishops Rowan Williams and Justin Welby of Canterbury, and leaders of the World Council of Churches in Geneva and the Global Christian Forum.

To keep on supporting the younger generations in their questioning and research, he multiplied the number of meetings and gatherings led by brothers, not only in Taizé and Europe but also on the different continents.

To express a solidarity with the most disadvantaged, he initiated concrete gestures, including sending humanitarian aid to various countries, printing Bibles for Christians in China, and creating fraternities of a few brothers in the Paris suburbs and in Cuba.

Starting in 2019, he began the work of uncovering the truth about sexual abuse committed by brothers in particular, and began to put in place measures to protect people so that Taizé remains a safe place for all.

After 18 years, he considered it necessary for the community to enter a new phase with a change of prior and, after consulting each brother, he handed over his role to Brother Matthew in December 2023.

He has published several writings, including Vers de nouvelles solidarités, in which he answers questions from an Italian journalist, Marco Roncalli, who asks him about his personal journey, that of the community, and the main lines of his thinking.