Emmaus International make public serious acts committed by founder Abbé Pierre
If you appreciate articles like this, sign up for our daily email newsletter and support us with a donation.

An internationally-renowned charity working in 41 countries has revealed that its founder, Fr. Henri Antoine Grouès, popularly known as Abbé Pierre, sexually assaulted multiple women between the late 1970s and 2005.
"These revelations have shaken our organizations," Emmaus International said in a statement Wednesday. "These acts profoundly change the way we regard this man, who was known above all for his struggle against poverty, destitution and exclusion."
Abbé Pierre joined the the order of the Capuchins in 1931 after he had a revelation in Assisi in 1927. He was ordained a priest in 1938.
WORLD WAR II HERO
The priest was hailed as a hero for his role in the French Resistance during World War II. He rescued Jews from the Nazis by providing them with false identity papers and helping them escape to Switzerland. Abbé Pierre created networks of routes through the Alps and set up a workshop in his home to make false identity papers.
He used several false identities, including "Abbé Pierre" so he wouldn't be caught by the Gestapo and the collaborationist Vichy police.
On his return to France in mid-January 1945, he was called on to represent the Catholic Resistance at the National Assembly. In October 1945, he was elected Member of Parliament for Meurthe-et-Moselle at the French National Assembly, for the Mouvement Républicain Populaire party.
His three terms as a member of parliament were marked by the defense of the Resistance, the promotion of federalist ideas, and the recognition and protection of conscientious objection. He was invited to contribute to the drafting of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
FOUNDING EMMAUS
In 1949, Abbé Pierre founded the first Emmaus community with the goal of providing the best possible accommodation for people without housing. His vision for the movement was confirmed when he rescued Georges, a former prisoner who had lost all hope and tried to commit suicide.
Abbé Pierre was accorded a hero's funeral at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral when he died in 2007, with dignitaries from all over the world attending the service that was televised to millions of viewers.
Emmaus International, an activist organization campaigning for social and environmental justice, has admitted that the priest sexually abused female employees and volunteer workers of some of its member organizations, along with young women that Abbé Pierre knew from his own personal circle.
VICTIMS TESTIFY
The movement commissioned Groupe Egaé, a firm specializing in violence prevention, to listen to testimony and conduct analysis, making it possible to gather testimonies from seven women.
One of them was a minor when the first incidents took place. According to the information gathered, several other women were subjected to similar incidents, but their testimonies have not been heard. The women reported unsolicited kissing and touching, as well as inappropriate sexual comments and propositions.
A strictly confidential system to hear testimonies and provide support has been set up for victims or witnesses of unacceptable behavior by Abbé Pierre.
"The Emmaus Movement combats all forms of violence and is intent on denouncing the unacceptable acts committed by a person who has played a major role in its history. We owe it to the victims," the statement said.
BISHOPS EXPRESS PAIN
"We also owe it to all those who, for over 70 years, have carried out the Movement's work on a daily basis. We share their pain and anger, but also their resolve to continue working, every day, to build a fairer and more supportive world," Emmaus International added.
The bishops of France have also expressed their pain at the case of Abbé Pierre and in a press release assured the victims of their "deep compassion and shame" that such acts could be committed by a priest, reiterating their determination to ensure that the Church is "a safe place."
The allegations against Abbé Pierre are the latest in a series of cases of Catholic celebrity leaders in France being accused and found guilty of sexual misconduct.
CELEBRITY SEXUAL ABUSERS
In June 2023, the Community of Saint John released a chilling report revealing how 72 priests and six nuns from the Community of Saint John used a rogue theology to sexually abuse 30 nuns, 69 laywomen, 29 minors, 17 brothers, and 10 boys under age 15.
The report, titled "Understanding and Healing: Origins and Analysis of Abuse in the St. John Family," admits the "central role" played by the order's founder, Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe, in the "systemic" abuse; and notes that the priests raped 20 women, including multiple nuns.
It also records how Mother Alix Parmentier, co-founder of the women's wing of the religious community, sexually assaulted others after she was herself sexually abused by ex-Dominican Fr. Philippe, who founded the Brothers of St. John in 1975.
Most of the 167 victims of sexual predation belonging to the order were women, and the abusive men represent 13.33% of the 390 priests and 8.26% of the 871 professed brothers in the congregation. The abuses took place mainly in the formation houses of Rimont and Saint-Jodart during confession, spiritual direction or personal conversation.
The report records abuses perpetrated over 35 years, from 1975-2013; and ranges from forced kissing, sexual touching on or under clothes, masturbation, oral sex, to outright rape. Father Marie-Dominique Philippe was responsible for over 20 sexual assaults.
Significantly, Fr. Thomas Philippe shared sexual partners and "mystical" sexual practices with Jean Vanier, an internal L'Arche 2020 report confirmed.
Vanier, an influential advocate for celibacy, colluded with his mentor, Fr. Thomas Philippe, to manipulate women with religious vocations, including nuns, into sexual relationships using "incestuous representations of relationships between Jesus and Mary."
Compiled over the span of two years by six French scholars, the L'Arche report explained how Vanier and Fr. Philippe interpreted celibacy as "not of the order of marital, exclusive love" but "as 'supernatural' by essence," therefore implying "a multiplicity of partners."
Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.
Comentários