Pierre Goursat (1914-1991) was a humble layman who was both a contemplative and a man of action. He converted at the age of 19, and he burned with love for Christ, compassion for the poor, and zeal for evangelization ever since.

Passionate about culture, he worked in the film industry. He was 58 years old when he experienced the “outpouring of the Spirit” in 1972 and founded the Emmanuel Community. Animated by great charity, he gave rise to numerous apostolic initiatives. In the impetus of Vatican II, he contributed to the formation of a new generation of lay people and priests serving the Church. He was a pioneer of the “new evangelization.”

He retired in 1985 from the government of the Community, spending the last years of his life in silence and adoration. He died on 25 March 1991.

Cardinal Lustiger presided at his funeral and paid tribute to the man in whom he had admired “how the Lord had opened the way for him, and how he had known how to respond to it.” Since then, Pierre Goursat has continued to help people beyond Emmanuel to turn towards God and live as apostles of Christ in the world.

With the agreement of Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris, the cause for the canonisation of Pierre Goursat was officially introduced in January 2010. An important step was taken on Saturday 19 December 2015: the diocesan phase was officially closed during a ceremony open to all in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Paris.