France’s bishops on Friday formally asked authorities to launch a criminal investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Abbé Pierre, a well-known priest who founded the Emmaus poverty ministry.
The move follows nine new allegations in a new report published on January 13 against the French priest, who died in 2007 at age 94.
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Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Episcopal Conference (CEF), announced the formal request on January 17 during a radio interview, emphasizing the need to discover additional victims.
While the late Abbé Pierre can no longer be prosecuted, the Paris prosecutor’s office could still investigate possible accomplices or failures to report abuse and assault at the time.
The latest on the Abbé Pierre case
Earlier this week, Emmaus International, Emmaus France and the Abbé Pierre Foundation published their third and final collection of testimonies, documenting nine new cases of alleged sexual abuse. According to the organization, this brings the total number of testimonies to 33.
The first complaints against the priest were made known in 2024, when Emmaus France received a statement from a woman accusing Pierre of sexual assault. More testimonies were published in July 2024 in an independent report commissioned by Emmaus. The documented allegations span several decades, from the 1950s to the 2000s, and victims included Emmaus employees, volunteers and young women from Pierre’s social circle.
The French bishops opened files on Abbé Pierre in September 2023. Under normal circumstances, these documents would have remained sealed in the National Archives Center of the Church of France until 2082.
The background of the case
Abbé Pierre founded the Emmaus Movement in Paris in 1949. Before these recent accusations, he was considered one of the most beloved and iconic figures of the Church in France. He was primarily known for helping the homeless population in France and for establishing the “Winter Truce” law in the 1950s, which still protects tenants from eviction during the winter months.
The investigation into Pierre represents another important chapter in the French Catholic Church’s broader fight against clerical abuse. In 2021, a landmark report by an independent commission on sexual abuse in the Church reported that approximately 330,000 children were sexually abused over 70 years by clergy or people affiliated with the Church.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA.
AC Wimmer
AC Wimmer is founding editor-in-chief of CNA Deutsch. This polyglot Australian, raised in Bavaria and South Africa, held senior positions at Australia’s SBS and was editor-in-chief of the historic Münchner Kirchenzeitung. Graduated in Philosophy and Chinese Studies from the University of Melbourne, Anian Christoph Wimmer – Chinese name 刘威猛 – was part of the jury for the Media Prize of the German Bishops’ Conference, is a former honorary researcher in Communications at the University of Melbourne and was part of the Caritas Council in Munich.