Forced kisses, coerced oral sex, sexual remarks: seven weeks after the shockwave caused by initial revelations, Abbé Pierre is now targeted by a new wave of accusations of sexual violence. The foundation that bears his name indicates it will change its name.
“To date, it is possible to identify at least 17 additional people who have suffered violence” from Abbé Pierre, who passed away in 2007, can be read in the report from the specialized firm Egaé, tasked in July by the two organizations to collect potential new testimonies.
The majority of these reports mention “unsolicited contact on the breasts,” “forced kisses,” but also “repeated sexual contact with a vulnerable person,” “repeated acts of sexual penetration,” or “sexual contact with a child.”
>> Listen to the interview with Marc Bouvier, vice-president of the Emmaüs Switzerland federations: New accusations of sexual assaults against Abbé Pierre trouble his foundations: interview with Marc Bouvier / Forum / 3 min. / Saturday at 18:03
Also in Switzerland
The reported events date back to a period from the 1950s to the 2000s, mostly in France but also in the United States, Morocco, and Switzerland.
Abbé Pierre maintained close ties with Switzerland, where he owned the Vigne à Farinet, the smallest vineyard in the world located in Saillon. In 1999, he gifted the vineyard to the Dalai Lama. [KEYSTONE – FABRICE COFFRINI]
The individuals who testified are or have been volunteers with Emmaüs, employees of places where Abbé Pierre stayed, family members close to the priest, or people met at public events, Egaé specifies.
Multiple testimonies
Among the testimonies is one from a woman who sent a letter to the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (Ciase), in which she states she had “to witness the masturbations of Abbé Pierre and was forced to perform oral sex in a Paris apartment” in 1989.
The family of another woman, now deceased, reports that she was “forced to masturbate” Abbé Pierre in Rabat, Morocco, in 1956.
>> Also read: Abbé Pierre, who passed away in 2007, accused of sexual assaults by several women
Another woman reports that she suffered “forced kisses” and “unsolicited contact” when she was 8 to 9 years old in 1974 and 1975 in Île-de-France. According to another testimony, Abbé Pierre also imposed unsolicited physical contact when he was a deputy in the National Assembly in 1951.
“Some spoke for the first time about what happened to them and relived the events as they recounted them,” said Caroline De Haas, associate director of Egaé.
>> Watch the topic from 19h30 after the first accusations:
17 years after his death, Abbé Pierre is accused of multiple sexual assaults / 19h30 / 2 min. / July 17, 2024
“Shame”
Triggered on July 17, the first wave of testimonies against Abbé Pierre, an icon and tireless defender of the homeless and the poorly housed, caused a shockwave in France.
Following these revelations initiated by the Emmaüs movement and the Abbé-Pierre Foundation, the Conference of Bishops of France (CEF) expressed its “pain” and “shame.”
The initial accusations raised questions about what knowledge these institutions had about the situation. “The report indicates that individuals may have been informed on a personal level but not as a movement,” said Adrien Chaboche, general delegate of Emmaüs International, to La Vie in early August.
An independent commission tasked with “explaining the dysfunctions that allowed Abbé Pierre to act as he did for over 50 years” will also be created. Established in July, the listening and support system will remain “open and available until the end of the year.”
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