Revelations about Abbé Pierre: why now?

He was, and still is, the symbol of the fight against poverty and poor housing. But Abbé Pierre also had a dark side to him, if we are to believe the report published by Emmaüs and the Abbé-Pierre Foundation on July 17. Six women reported acts that could be described as sexual assault; a seventh reported sexist remarks and indecent solicitations. The events presented allegedly took place between the end of the 1970s and 2005. They involved Abbé Pierre touching the breasts of several women, including one aged 16 or 17, and a forced kiss on the mouth.

The seeds of Ciase

Why have these cases only been made public now, seventeen years after his death (1912-2007), when he will therefore not be able to defend himself? The recent work of transparency undertaken by the Church, through the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse (Ciase), has been preponderant. Its conclusions, delivered in October 2021, convinced one of Abbé Pierre’s victims to speak out. This woman, a Catholic, who closely followed the work of the Ciase, made an appointment for early 2023 by email with Véronique Margron, a Dominican and recognized figure in listening to victims of sexual abuse in the Church. The seeds planted by the institution’s transparency work have germinated. Because after confiding in Emmaüs officials without result “a long time ago, but not fifty years ago either”, specifies Véronique Margron, it is towards the Church that this woman turned. “The Ciase report convinced her to testify, she finally felt that she would be listened to,” the nun continued.

This woman then wanted Emmaüs and the Abbé-Pierre Foundation to recognize her suffering. Véronique Margron warned her: “Not being believed or hearing your pain relativized can be extremely violent.” The nun advised her to testify accompanied by a loved one, which she did. This first meeting with the heads of the associations was held in September 2023. They seemed sincerely surprised by the accusations. “None of them denigrated or minimized her words,” testified Véronique Margron, who was present.

A favorable context

This has not always been the case. Recent revelations indicate that omerta has long reigned at Emmaüs and that the abuses of the priest, known internally, have never been publicly denounced. “That nothing was done at the time makes me very angry,” deplores Véronique Margron. A mistake that the current managers did not want to repeat. On February 9, 2024, the association entrusted the Egaé firm, founded by feminist activist Caroline De Haas, with the task of conducting the investigation. Times are changing, it is difficult for her to do otherwise. The #MeToo scandals in cinema, the world of sport, at work, in all sectors of society, now require us to consider the words of victims of sexual violence. This political and media context seems essential to understand the timing of these revelations. Added to this is the fact that Emmaüs, in the midst of an internal reorganization in terms of governance, wanted to wipe the slate clean.

But a silence of almost fifty years, all the same? It is certainly linked to the stature of the abbot, another reason for the very late date of these disclosures. “Unfortunately, his figure was at such a height that it had become perfectly untouchable,” sighs Véronique Margron. “None of his aggressions were audible. Or else one had to consider that they did not weigh much compared to the good he did for the poor.”

It seems even more difficult to speak when one has to testify against great figures. “If we touch these personalities, we have the impression that we will no longer have saints. Abbé Pierre was elevated to the rank of god but he was only a man,” adds Isabelle Le Bourgeois, psychoanalyst and auxiliary nun.

The work of time

The psychoanalyst observes that the late liberation of speech is often explained by the shame felt by victims in denouncing such intimate facts. “But shame must change sides,” she asserts. “We do not measure the consequences on the psyche that these gestures of domination, of debasement can cause. Taking possession of the body of the other is not nothing.” For too long, these consequences have been underestimated.

“It is certain that no one wakes up one morning and says: today, I am going to talk. There are triggers,” says Véronique Margron. It could be the death of a victim’s parents; many victims of assault want to spare their parents the shock of recounting their suffering. Or reading a third-party testimony, whose words precisely convey what another victim of assault feels. Or, in a case experienced by a victim accompanied by Véronique Margron, the appointment of a prelate to a victims’ listening post when this prelate had assaulted her. For her, it was the last straw.

Each new additional step – disclosure to a loved one or to the media – then requires a significant amount of time for the person who has been attacked to digest it. Hence the delay that some cases can take to emerge. “We must respect the victim’s time,” urges Véronique Margron.