Nicolas Buttet of Switzerland was born in 1961 and is a lawyer by training and well as a former member of the Valais Cantonal Parliament. He took part in the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in Rome, and then in 1992, withdrew for 5 years, living as a hermit at Notre-Dame du Scex, Valais. Upon returning to the world in 1997, he founded the Eucharistein Fraternity in Saint-Maurice-d'Agone, one of many new communities that sprung up following the Vatican II Council.
The community includes three houses: one at Épinassey on the grounds of the Abby of Saint-Maurice, one in Bourguillon (Fribourg), and a third in France in the commune of La Martre, on a 115 hectare plot of land donated by the bishop of Fréjus-Toulon. On June 22, 2003, Mgr Dominique Rey, bishop of the diocese, officially recognized the Fraternity and established it as a public association of the faithful. On June 29 of the same year, Nicolas Buttet was ordained a priest and Jean Python, a close associate, a deacon.
The community is home to some 20 brothers and sisters, postulants, and novices. Their devotion to evangelical simplicity and total dependence on God was inspired by Saint Francis of Assisi. The community’s life is centered on Christ in the Eucharist, celebrated in the sacrifice of the mass and worshiped in the Blessed Sacrament. The fraternity also invites young people to come experience a year of reflection, service, and prayer following their professional training. They also welcome many young people addicted to drugs and alcohol or struggling with depression for a time of personal renewal.
In addition to serving as the Fraternity’s moderator, Father Nicolas leads the Dorothée and Saint Nicolas de Flüe Group and is a regular conference speaker. In addition, he was the driving force behind the creation of the Philanthropos Institute, an anthropology study center, in 2004. Professors at the Institute work without pay and hail from the most prestigious universities of Europe. Father Buttet also took part in establishing the Ecophilos Foundation, an offshoot of the Institute, whose aim is to take a truthful look at the human person at work. He has also published three books on the Eucharist: Aimer et faire connaître l’amour (Éd. de l’Emmanuel), Brûlé au soleil de Dieu (Éd. du Cerf), and L’Eucharistie à l’école des saints (Éd. de l’Emmanuel).