Biography

Brother Matthew (Andrew Thorpe) was born on May 10, 1965 in Pudsey (UK). An Anglican, he joined the community in November 1986, giving up his medical studies, and made a lifelong commitment in August 1989.

Soon helping with the organisation of the meetings of young people, he became involved in giving bible introductions, which helped him deepen his knowledge of the Word of God. He was entrusted with welcoming young Russians in particular, initially with another brother, which led him to make several visits to that country. He also often visited Estonia and Latvia, as well as Sweden, Australia (where his family lives) and New Zealand.

In 2004, he spent several months with the brothers living in Bangladesh, and in the following years he returned there several times to support the brothers.

For many years he was responsible for accompanying the young male volunteers living close to the community, and later on the new brothers. He was involved in setting up measures to ensure the protection of people in Taizé. He enjoys gardening and following football matches.

When Brother Alois felt the time had come to make a number of changes to bring the community's way of life more into line with the times, starting with a change of prior, he consulted all the brothers and, in December 2023, he handed over the reins to Brother Matthew. Brother Matthew had just spent several months in Rome where, with other brothers, he prepared the Together event that marked the start of the bishops' synod on synodality.

Walking together and co-responsibility are words often used by Brother Matthew and, in this spirit, from the outset of his ministry he wished to be surrounded by a small council of four brothers. In order to involve as many brothers as possible in the direction to be taken, he launched several reflection groups in the community on issues to be addressed. In his desire for the community to be present in places of great suffering, his first trip took him to war-torn Ukraine. Concerned about international tensions, he has called on young people to become pilgrims of peace, each in their own way.