In 1929, when he was only twenty-four, he came under the influence of the French writer Charles Péguy, to whom he ascribed the inspiration of the personalist movement.

Peter Maurin used to say wherever he went, "There is a man in France called Emmanuel Mounier.

He taught at the Lycée du Parc at Lyon and at the Lycee Français Jean Monnet at Brussels.

[6] In 1939, Mounier commented in a restrained manner on the newly elected Pope Pius XII remaining silent on the Italian invasion of Albania.

Thus, Mounier has contributed to the debate about Pope Pius XII's controversial stance on the Holocaust.